Bake My Cake and Eat it Too!

"Cause I gotta sweet tooth that'll never come loose"

2010-11-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

Finally the day has arrived. My favorite bakery in Boston, and former work place, has published a cook book!!! Flour Bakery's owner Joanne Chang has given the public a gift in a book filled with many delicious recipes. It's so fun baking from it, tasting the treats that I have sold to so many happy customers.

Last night my cousins had a house warming party, and I brought over some Coconut Macaroons. Not many people like coconut, or at least not many people I know. My roommate who doesn't like coconut had two of these treats and said they were great, coconut and all. I made them using just my arm as a mixer. And they turned out beautifully large and delicious.

2010-10-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

Almost two years later...unbelievable. So much has changed. Yet my passion for baking and writing and reading have remained with me. The other day I clicked on the link for my blog and reread some of my entires. I looked at some of the pictures, and miss baking. Im in Chicago now. Just moved into a new apartment with an old friend. Lately I have been thinking too much. About the uncertainty of the future. About life, love, and happiness, the usual. I went to the library and checked out some books. Get my mind right. To stop worrying about things that I have no control over, and just let it be. Because it will be ok. Baking has always been something I can do that takes my attention away from thinking too much.

I found this recipe for homemade Oreos. Im not a huge Oreo fan. I mean, if they are there I will dunk them in milk and utterly enjoy, but Im not the type to pick some up at the grocery store. Anyways, I found this recipe for them on a different blog as I was wandering around the internet. I think my cookie parts were a little thick and I laid the cream on pretty heavy. Bright side is I was concerned about making them without the aid of a mixer, but everything was doable by hand. Figured people have been making cookies for years, and I am sure there was a time when the Kitchen Aid wasn't invented. :) Feels GREAT to be back.

Same Cake, Same old?

2008-11-16T22:31:00.000-08:00

Not same old. Broken ankle, hospital stay, and surgery. One move back home, and yet my third new room since I moved back a year ago.

I baked this cake four months ago. Same recipe, I baked it again tonight. It looks a lot different this time around. It tasted good, but I can see the mistakes.

Last time I went to the store and baked this cake solo. Because I could. Today one brother brought my ingredients while the other learned how to bake a cake from scratch. Yeah it may have been more difficult this time around, but with the help of family, it worked out.

Congrats A&B!

2008-11-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Im so very happy for these two.

Happy Birthday Big Girl

2008-08-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

Better late than never. I made one of my favorite cakes for one of my favorite people. Whipped Berry cake is perfect for the hot months of the summer. Rumor has it the cake didnt even make it 24 hrs...I believe it!

Tres Leches.

2008-07-10T21:44:00.000-07:00

Incredible. I had only tried this cake once before, and my brother Trent requested it for his birthday. Having no money to go out and buy all the ingredients for a strawberry whip I decided to give it a google and see how difficult this cake could be. Not. Difficult. At. All. Probabally the easiest cake I have made from scratch...ever. And oh so good. Ingredients included, AP flour, butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. That's all for the cake. Simply delish. Then stab away after the cake is cooled, get your tres leches mixed up: evaporated, sweetened condensed, and whole. Soak your cake for a couple hours and frost. Frosting consists of more vanilla, sugar, and whipping cream. That's all she wrote. Add some strawberries to the top for some tartness to break the cream. I will definetly make this again...this weekend? Ha...most likely.

Bake it Off.

2008-07-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

April 20th huh? Close to three months since I have last been here. Well, I think I once heard a saying that pain takes you back. Either that or I made it up, whatever. Happy 4th of July, that's painful to me. I would say that the majority of people associate loneliness and the past with holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving, maybe even a birthday here or there. Not me. He and I had some great 4ths. Actually the three of us did. He, I, and the city. Boston. It is such a special place to experience this day. You walk outside not knowing if the sun will warm you or rain will soak you. I was fortunate enough to experience the former two years in a row. But today I am here. I am not by the Charles nor in the atlantic watching blue whales. So I scrap myself out of bed, and into the only place I know I can count on to distract my empty self, the kitchen. It's good to be back. Great to have a haven to help me. Chocolate chip cheesecake. No recipe folks, I just kinda read a little and remembered what I had seen others doing. It was good. Easy, quick, pretty...the cheesecake. A little too chocolatey for me, but I am anxious to try new flavors. Glad to be back, maybe we can start again.

M.I.A.

2008-04-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

Funny that my last post was called constant, because baking has not been in my life. So so much has changed since March 16th. I got a full-time job at a bakery, love it! I also moved to LA to be closer to work. A friend of mine found a great deal on an apt and I jumped at the change. So I have been unstable. But I did do last month's DB challenge. I made the lemon cake for Easter, and I loved the cake. The lemon buttercream turned out to be too buttery, and didn't come out quite right. The texture of mine was too thin at first and then I put it in the fridge and it got really hard. Sorry I don't have all the details of the recipe, I just got my camera back and wanted to post. Hopefully life will slow down a bit and I can bake it up!

Constant.

2008-03-16T18:17:00.001-07:00

I don't find myself to commit to much lately. I buy running shoes and don't run or think of some brilliant idea and then it just slowly lingers into a small thought. I can gladly admit that this blog has been a constant in my life. Which is how I know that baking is here to stay. I never get sick of it or forget about it. There is so much to read about and great people to learn from. Speaking of which the blog that started this all for me is Tartlette. I don't remember how, I was probably looking for a tartlette recipe and found her on google. Her beautiful blog is home to some beautiful macaroons. Being used to coconut macaroons I finally found the time to make the French ones. They were easier than I imagined but I don't think I got it quite right. I also made some trusty brownies...can't really mess a brownie up it's chocolate either way. The recipe was from Baking with Julia and those brownies were delicious. So dense and rich...love!

Tart.

2008-03-05T00:14:00.000-08:00

So I got these blueberries on sale from my local Ranch Market. Originally their purpose was a nice chilled high fiber snack for myself. But as I laid in bed tonight, that thing cam on again. You know, you get to thinking about the practice you need or a treat you had that was delicious, and the over-whelming urge to recreate hits you. Or at least me. Blueberry Muffins. Honestly I am not a big fan. Too commercial, yet so are donuts ;) Maybe the blueberries trick my mind into thinking that the muffins are too healthy to be bad. Although we all know this is not the case. Tart. Blueberries are tart, and when I want sweet, I want SWEET. Lemon curd being a total exception. My resource was the Joy of Baking website. Blueberry Struesal Muffins. They turned out like the picture, beautifully, but they weren't sweet enough if you ask me and my brotha. Moral of the story...just because you look good on the outside...doesn't mean you are good. You may be okay...but not necessarily delicious.

Yet another high or binge...whatever you want to call it.

2008-02-25T12:49:00.000-08:00

Because I was so happy with the Brioche recipe I used in my last post, I decided to play some more. Last night I made the dough, and stayed up till 2:30am. This morning I was up by 7:30am at it again. Baker's hours. In some make believe world I was working in my own bakery. Right? Who else makes, Sugar Brioche Buns, Chocolate Brioche, Sticky Buns, and Twice Baked all in one day? I do. I promise I didn't eat all of it. Really, I swear. I just love the recipe. The bread turns out so soft, fluffy, sweet, and well...real!

My New Friend

2008-02-14T08:27:00.000-08:00

About a week ago I was wondering around the bookstore when I ran into, "Baking with Julia." I skimmed over it and left the bookstore stomach growling, empty handed. The next day, after I received my paycheck, I returned. Forgive me for saying this, but up until lately I was not familiar with Julia Child. But don't worry we have caught up over a brioche and sticky buns. The brioche recipe in the cookbook will stay with me for life. I have made a lot of bread before and to be honest I am never thouroughly satisfied with it. Sometimes it doesn't rise enough or it is a bit too tough. Child's recipe was the real deal. I am thinking it may have to do with the dabbing of butter on the dough, folding, rolling, and relaxing. I have never heard of that before, but I followed her directions and turned out the best loave and buns I have ever made. Next up...well you'll see

Para mi Vaca

2008-02-02T23:30:00.001-08:00

There's this boy I know who lives in Boston with a little brown boxer. He goes to school there and unfortunately stares at my sweets on a computer screen. Whenever I make anything, I think of him, because I know how much he loves and appreciates me. So I decided to send him some love in the form of Belgium Waffles and Pan Dulce. The waffle recipe was taken from The Joy of Cooking. Pan Dulce was from The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger. I've made the pan dulce before and I think it came out better the last time, but oh well I had a good time. Love you P! xoxoxxxx

Daring Baker's Challenge: Lemon Meringue Pie

2008-01-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

I wish I could runaway like my lemon curd ran. This month's Daring Baker's Challenge was hosted by Jen from The Canadian Baker . Lemon Meringue Pie, a first for me. I was a little apprehensive about the meringue. These days egg whites scare me. After a failed flourless chocolate cake earlier this month I bake in fear of collapsed egg whites. While my meringue was not as stiff as maybe it should have been, it really did turn out nice. The crust was simply and delicious, mine was nice and thick, my favorite. Usually I'm a huge fan of curd...but like a lot of other DBers mine ran. The taste was great, but too soupy. It's okay though, I'm glad I completed my third challenge and in the future will make some changes so my lemon curd may stay.

Happy Birthday Dad.

2008-01-27T17:45:00.000-08:00

As I said earlier, I love any excuse to bake a cake. Mostly for the decorating part. Practice makes perfect. Happy 54th birthday Old Man.

Minestrone.

2008-01-25T08:47:00.000-08:00

Rainy days equal soup days. Simple, healthy Minestrone soup. Small shell pasta, fresh spinach, carrots, zucchini, celery, onions, garlic, tomatoes, fresh basil. thyme, oregano, and alas vegetable stock. Perfect.

January birthdays, take one.

2008-01-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

Myself and a few of my close friends celebrate our birthdays this month. Birthdays are the best! A reason to bake cake and eat cake!!! Not that I don't bake cakes on other random days, afterrall everyday has to be someone's birthday. Happy Quarter of a Century to Ashley and Christy!! My first excuse to make chocolate ganache...it was amazing. My Dad and I are another year older on Saturday, birthday cake take two!

Sukiyaki

2008-01-14T21:49:00.000-08:00

Like every other morning as I was eating breakfast today I was already thinking about what I would be eating for dinner. My Dad suggested we make Sukiyaki. He showed me a recipe that he had gotten out of a book of various recipes put together by a Japanese community center we used to be involved with. The recipe was very simple and so I gave it a go. I had no idea what to expect. I am so used to using a bunch of garlic, onions, and pepper in my meat marinades, that soy sauce, sugar, and a little bit of water was new to me. The end product was amazing. I started by heating a little bit of vegtable oil in a skillet. I added my onions, both green and white. After a couple minutes I added my top sirloin which was cut into very thin pieces. I made sure to keep the vegtables seperate from the meat at first. Then I simply added my sauce mixture and let the meat broil in it. After the meat was cooked I added mushrooms, bean sprouts, water chesnuts, bamboo stalks, tofu, and noodles. It was that simple. I thought it looked great, but because I didnt use the garlic that I am used to there was no strong aroma. That didn't matter at all. The dish was delicious!! The meat was nice and tender and I loved how the water chesnuts and bean sprouts added a nice crunch. Im so happy to have another Japanese dish to add to my heart. Sukiyaki is something I never would have thought to make, or look for in a cookbook. I'm glad my Dad suggested it and I look forward to sharing it with my friends and family.

Butternut.

2008-01-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

I know fall is behind us, but I've always had mad love for the butternut squash. When I was younger I loved it because of it's appearance. The fall would bring all sorts of weird looking squash, and I never imagined taking one and making it into a delicious meal. But I did. Since I have been working at the bistro I mentioned I have been craving butternut squash soup. With all the rain and gloomy skies I mocked my chef's soup tonight. The recipe I used was googled http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=recipe&dbid=33. I'm trying to cook healthier this year which is why you will find no cakes, cookies, or pastries in this entry. Along with my soup I made a spring mix salad with strawberries, pecans, and blue cheese. Another thing I soaked up at work. Overrall it was a great meal. Different and filling. I will definetly be making it again and experimenting in different ways.

Ode to Chocolate Brioche

2007-12-31T10:08:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned earlier this morning, I was in the process of making Chocolate Brioche. A favorite. My family got lucky this morning, and I can honestly say they were delicious. For the most part when I bake something I am hard on myself and always thinking about how to better the project next time. Flavor wise I think the Chocolate Brioche was right on! Could've been in better form but next time...

The quiche turned out WAY better than the last. I used cream instead of milk so the filling wasnt runny. Last time I also forgot to prebake the pie crust resulting in sogginess. This time the crust was a little on the thick side and more sundried tomatoes would enhance the flavor. But overrall my night/morning was productive and successful. Great way to wrap up 2007!

If you give a mouse a cookbook...

2007-12-31T04:47:00.000-08:00

Watch out. Here in California it is exactly 4:47am. What started out as making Brioche for tomorrow (today) ended with a fresh broccili, sun dried tomato, cheddar quiche. My sleeping family probabaly thinks I am on drugs. Wrong. Two days ago I went to Barnes and Noble and purchased the Joy of Cooking. LOVE it! Every single person in the world should own a copy. I borrowed my grandma's old edition and decided that I needed a late Christmas present. Such a jewel it is. So I made brioche dough, which will hopefully turn into Brioche Aux Chocolate in a few hours. And as I was skimming through my cookbook I realized I had all I needed to make a quiche. Why not? My mom will love me. Happy New Year!!

**I've also included a picture of the craziness that was my Christmas baking. Gingerbread men, Sugar cookies, Pecan Sandies, Vanilla Cupcakes (w/the leftover chocolate buttercream from my Yule Log), Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Red Velvet Cupcakes. That was a long, long, weekend. But worth all the sweetness.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T00:28:00.000-08:00

Im tired from the past 24hours of baking. On top of the Christmas cookies I saved for the last minute, I alsoo participated in this month's Daring Baker's challenge. The challenge was a Yule log, and it completely slipped my mind. I have been so busy with work and holiday shopping that I wasn't focused on the challenge. To be honest, yesterday I was contemplating skipping the challenge this month. But it's only my second month as a DB and I would have felt bad. And so here it is. Appearance wise I was content, but the genoise cake was not my finest. I think I left it in the oven too long. Instead of doing a coffee buttercream, I did chocolate, it was delicious. I used the leftovers to frost some cupcakes for tomorrow. Sorry this post is so short, I promise to come back with links and more info...but I have to get to sleep so Santa doesn't skip my house!!! Happy Holidays!!

2007-12-23T23:57:00.000-08:00

Just a heads up, my challenge is in the fridge right now. Technically I will be breaking the DBers law because my post will be up on the 24th. It is baked but needs the finishing touches.

Zanahoria.

2007-12-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

As a kid when we get new toys all we want to do is play play play. Yesterday I got some new toys and so I play. I used my new 6 inch cake pan and pastry bag to make a carrot cake. The recipe I used was from the joy of baking. What can I say, I am such a sucker for cream cheese frosting. The cake turned out well. I took my time, and did things right. I was patient while frosting and it paid off. The actual taste of the cake wasn't bad. It was a little on the dry side, but had a nice flavor. So much more baking yet to come this month, get excited.

Four Scores and Seven Years Later.

2007-12-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in awhile, or baked. Ha. I appear to be a manic baker. Going on binge highs baking up a storm; followed by a couple weeks of a dormant period where my Kitchenaid gets rusty. kidding.
I've been working, and well that's pretty much it.
But today is going to be a good day. I am going on my first ever trip to a little place I call Heaven. Sur La Table. The website itself makes me so happy. I realize it is going to be pricey...buuuut that's why I'm dragging my mom along. Christmas is almost here and it's time for me to get manic!!

Pain Aux Raisin: Grandma's Treat

2007-11-26T12:47:00.000-08:00

As I said last night, I was going to bake something for my Grandma who came over this morning. My first try at Pain Aux Raisin was a great sucess. I tend to have the habit of taking bread out too early and therefore the final product can be doughy at times, but today was different. The recipe comes from yet another one of my favorite websites The Fresh Loaf. Instead of brushing the egg glaze on the baked rolls, I decided to use a White Fondant for a different look and sweeter taste. Floydum makes note that Pain Aux Lait is typically the, "poor man's brioche," but I agree with him, my rolls were plenty rich. The White fondant I used came from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. It is optional to use lemon extract in the fondant glaze, and I recommend doing so. It is amazing what you can do with what you have.

I have found my calling: Daring Baker's Tender Potato Bread

2007-11-26T00:16:00.000-08:00

I have officially completed my very first challenge for the Daring Bakers!!! This month's challenge was hosted be Tanna from My Kitchen in Half Cups. Thank you Tanna for helping me to continue working on my bread skills!

Let me just say something in regards to my title for this post. It has been awhile now that I have been up this late or early in the morning turning something in for a project, if you will. I am very familiar with late nights and long papers. However when I was doing school work I was staying up till midnight to turn in my paper at 11:59pm of that day so it would not be late. Well how do you like me now?? Here I am staying up waiting anxiously for the clock to strike 12:00am, so I can post my challenge as early as possible. Geez, talk about a change.

Back to the bread! The potato bread was something very new to me, using actual potatoes in a dough. I opted for about 10-13oz. of Idaho and Russet potatoes on different occasions. The dough gave my arms and hands quite the workout, it was by far the stickiest dough I have worked with to date.

Tanna allowed us to choose different shapes for our dough, and we were also allowed to further challenge ourselves by coming up with other possible savory ways to bake this dough.

The first day I made my bread I stayed safe and baked a loaf and some rolls. The bread looked fluffy and tasted great!! I used the leftovers from dinner to make egg salad sandwiches later on that week.

My second round with the dough was where I challenged myself by making stuffed bread. When I was working at Flour Bakery+Cafe in Boston one of the daily specials was a different variety of stuffed bread. Some days I would peek in on the chef to see how he stuffed our house-made focaccia bread with savory fillings. Although I had never learned how to do so directly, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. I tried and I succeeded. The stuffed bread on my menu was Roast Rib eye, Spinach, Caramelized Onions, and Sharp Cheddar Cheese. My family loved it, and although I felt I could have left it in the oven for a bit longer, I was satisfied.

I think I am done here. Congrats to all the Daring Bakers out there who completed this month's challenge. Thank you all for the support and encouragement!!! Special thanks to the founders Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice and Lisa of La Mia Cucina. I had a great time this month, and I can't wait for all that is come!

**For the Tender Potato Bread recipe please visit Tanna's site

Does anyone have the time?

2007-11-25T23:11:00.000-08:00

11:12pm. Considering I didn't sleep much last night, I should be tucked in by now. Counting sheep and all. But no, I'm getting ready to go downstairs and bake. I have to check on the the amount of eggs I have, but if I get the go ahead, there will be sweetness in the kitchen yet again. Grandma is coming in the morning to help my mom out and she deserves a treat, right??? I am going to go ahead and place the blame on my new favorite blog, don't worry Tartlette, I still love you (your potato bread came out beautifully!!). However this beautiful, amazing, smart, blog takes my two favorite things in life, adds a tablespoon of sugar, and bakes a whole lot of heaven for me. Check it out. Baking and Books. Ciao for now!

Because Overindulge just so happens to be my middle name.

2007-11-23T22:44:00.000-08:00

Here I am, the day after Thanksgiving, Baking. I think I have a problem. Not only did I stay up till 3am on Thanksgiving Eve to make two pumpkin pies and a pumpkin cheesecake, but now on a Friday night I am at home baking. I really know how to make myself feel good. I actually take it all in good humor. So myself and the Joy of Baking have pretty much become best friends. Sometimes I feel bad though, because I am the friend that always copies the other. But I think it is okay. I am a beginner, I go by the book for the most part, and I hope that over time I will develop skills to create my own takes on recipes.

I recently started working at a really great place that is known for the tea and scones. After serving many baskets of scones, along with jam and cream I had to do it myself. Im satisfied with the outcome. The cream was amazing. It was supposed to be mascarpone, sugar, egg, and vanilla. I substituted cream cheese for the mascarpone, and added a little bit of powdered sugar and powdered egg whites to thicken it up. Delicious. I love raspberry jam and the combination was right on. I feel as though I could eat the spread on a saltine cracker and be perfectly content.

The Perks of Beind Unemployed and Living at Home

2007-11-14T22:29:00.001-08:00

Haha...who would've thought there were any (perks). But there are. First of all I have my family to cook for, two parents and three brothers living at home means I eat a lot less of what I make. I have a kitchen with a KitchenAid, cake pans, cookie sheets, flour, spatulas, sugar, and more to work with. That mean no getting through half a recipe and realizing I have to walk all the way to Shaws just to pick up something that I know I would have had if I was still living at home. It is nice. As for being unemployed...I have all the time in the world to bake and make. Although I have no money, I do live at home so I have no rent to pay and best of all...I have a MOM!!! Which is better than a bank. So today I decided to go easy on the bank of mom and figure something out with what I had at home.

They say if life hands you lemons, make lemonade. I say if life hands you lemons, make lemon curd! Lemon curd is a dream come true. The funny thing is, up until...I worked at Flour Bakery+Cafe I had no idea what the stuff was. I had no idea that my favorite cheesecake in the whole entire world, lemon cheesecake, was made with lemon curd! So what I did today was recreate the tart I made Monday. But I replaced the apples with a layer of lemon curd. The recipe for the lemon curd can be found on one of my new favorite resources Joy of Baking.

The final product, was good. I think I should have thinned out the crust on the bottom, and made a higher crust around the tart. The tart could have also stayed in the oven a little longer, but I will remember that next time.

Personally I enjoyed the lemon curd cream cheese tart more than the apple, but my family didn't seem to matter either way, as long as they got their dessert.

What a Day!

2007-11-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

Today was definetly one of my most productive days in a LONG time. I seriously spent all day in the kitchen, it was nice. Long hours and hard work pays off when my mom and dad are through with working and have a meal waiting for them. We ended the night off with a recipe for a cream cheese apple tart I found on Joy of Baking. If you have never been to the website before, I suggest an immediate visit. The photos are beautiful and there is so much to be baked. This was my first tart and I am glad I picked the recipe because it was very simple. Just what I needed to end my shift as the family chef. The cool part about this recipe is most of the steps involved the food processor which was easy to use and a time saver. I chose to use Jonagold apples, but I think in the future I will stick with the Granny Smith for a tart flavor. I was nothing but pleased with the final product, and think that this was the perfect first tart!

A Good Day.

2007-11-10T21:21:00.000-08:00

Everyday is a good day for baking. Since I discovered the blog world I have been so inspired. Mom took me to buy a scale (food) today and I can't wait to use it! It makes me feel so professional. I had a lot of free time today, and was in the mood to make something. I also bought some material so I can create my first apron, looks good.

Yeah so Tartlette occupied most of my cyber time today. I love that blog like I can't even explain. It is so beautiful! I aspire to be a tartlette one day...heck I already am a tart. I had been eyeing the baked donuts since way back when and decided to go for it. The results so far were great. I made about half a dozen for my family tonight, and refridgerated the rest to share with family at church tomorrow.

Yes, I Dare

2007-10-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

I Dare to Bake.
This is my new blog dedicated to my thing; Baking.
Ignore the grammer and hopefully not the spelling.
This blog is my test kitchen, not everything is going to turn out fantastic.
All I can do is try my best, and thus far I have had no complaints.