With Love and Confection...

Well it is true what they say- time flies. I know this because I have my first Christmas party on Monday. Monday! Hmm..this means I am just starting my baking for the season. For this I am very excited though, because I haven't cooked in awhile. For me, it is so relaxing to spend a Saturday afternoon, listening to oldies and trying out new recipes.

Today, I listened to my Pandora radio station, tuned into the Platters. I just LOVE listening to music from the 40's, 50's and mid-60's. The songs were so sweet, and the singers could actually sing!

Anyways, today I tried my hand at confections. You see, it has been awhile since I have attempted confections, and I consider this the first time I have been successful.

I can cook well and bake well, but when it came to making candy apples, they never got hard; The one time I made fudge, I affectionately dubbed it my "liquid fudge".  I used to make my dad peanut brittle all the time, which that did come out good, but it didn't lessen my dislike for the candy thermometer.

I suppose I always got scared and pulled the pot off the range too soon, worried whatever it was would burn. Instead, my sugary confection would never harden.

But no matter now! Because today, I successfully made Buckeyes, Butter mints, Pralined Pecans, and Red Velvet Brownies :)

I will post the red velvet brownies later, after I ice them.



Peanut Butter Balls (Buckeyes)

Peanut Butter Balls 2 cups (500 grams) creamy peanut butter 1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 - 2 1/2 cups (230 - 290 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar Chocolate Coating 9 ounces (255 grams) semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons (25 grams) shortening Directions: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the peanut butter, unsalted butter, and salt in a microwaveable bowl, and heat in the microwave for about one minute or until just soft (check and stir the ingredients every 20 seconds).  Stir in the vanilla extract and confectioners sugar and mix until it has the consistency of a dough (add more sugar if necessary). Roll the dough into 1 inch (2.5 cm) round balls. Place on the cookie sheet and refrigerate for about one hour, or until firm. Melt the chocolate and shortening in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Dip the balls, one at a time, in the melted chocolate, making sure the entire ball is coated with chocolate. Then, with two spoons or a dipping fork, remove the peanut butter ball from the melted chocolate, allowing any excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl.  Place the chocolate covered balls back on the baking sheet. When all the balls have been dipped in the chocolate, place in the refrigerator until the chocolate has set. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/candy/PeanutButterBalls.html#ixzz16XenI6J2

Praline Pecans

For a sweet treat, try these Praline Pecans. Be sure to use a heavy saucepan, and work quickly when spooning the pecan mixture onto the wax paper.
Prep: 5 min., Cook: 15 min., Stand: 20 min.
This recipe goes with Praline-Pecan Cakes

Yield: Makes about 8 cups

Ingredients

• 1 1/2  cups  granulated sugar
• 3/4  cup  firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2  cup  butter
• 1/2  cup  milk
• 2  tablespoons  corn syrup
• 5  cups  toasted pecan halves

Preparation

Stir together first 5 ingredients in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.

Boil, stirring constantly, 7 to 8 minutes or until a candy thermometer registers 234°.

Remove from heat, and vigorously stir in pecans. Spoon pecan mixture onto wax paper, spreading in an even layer. Let stand 20 minutes or until firm. Break praline-coated pecans apart into pieces. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week. Freeze in an airtight container or zip-top plastic freezer bag up to 1 month.

Southern Living, DECEMBER 2005

Butter Mints, by Aunt Dixie 

 1/2 tsp. vanilla flavoring

2 lbs. 10x powdered sugar-sifted

3/4 tsp butter flavoring

8 oz.butter

Combine all ingredients in a mixer, with the hook attachment, until a soft dough forms

Adding color is optional (I added pink to mine for the rosettes I made

Knead dough until smooth. roll and cut, or press into molds. I used rose molds

Let dry for atleast 6-8 hours. Store in airtight container

Ready, Set, Bake!

Oh it's Fall! It's finally Fall!! I absolutely love the weather and good home cooking that comes with this season.

It has been awhile since I have posted, so I am making this one short and sweet. Time to Bake!

I am dedicating this blog to one of my readers- Stephanie Schrolucke. She gave me this beautiful apron for my birthday, and I promised her I would bake a mean batch of cookies in it :)

Isn't it lovely?

I made some Praline Cookies tonight, they smell and taste delightful :)

Aunt Mary Dillon's Praline Cookies

From Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 8 tablespoon(s) (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 cup(s) light-brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup(s) heavy cream, plus more if necessary
• 1 cup(s) sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup(s) pecan halves, toasted and broken into large pieces

---

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and 1 1/2 cups light-brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until fully combined. Add dry ingredients, and beat on low speed until combined.
3. Drop batter in rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until firm and barely golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies from pan to wire rack.
4. In a small saucepan, combine remaining 1 cup light-brown sugar and cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add confectioners' sugar, and whisk until smooth. (If frosting thickens, thin with cream.) Add pecan pieces. Place cookies on a cooling rack over a lined baking pan. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon praline mixture onto each cookie.

George Washington Carver knew what's up

Two words: Peanut Butter.
 Why? Because it is the best invention ever. George Washington Carver- genius, Peanuts have to be the most versatile item ever. Remember learning about that in school? Peanuts used for oil, soap, food, clothes, etc. It's like a wonder food- correction, it is a wonder food.

 So I am dedicating a blog post to my addiction. Deja vu, seems Ive mentioned my love for peanut butter before.

I like to believe that since peanut butter is such a wonder, that it wont add pounds on me no matter how much I eat. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'me deceiving myself, considering it's 100 calories per tablespoon! Wow, it sounds worse when I type it out. I guess now would not be the time to mention that I eat peanut bar half a jar at a time.

It pretty much goes with anything and everything. I have tried almost all brands, not much on off brands, but JIF, Peter Pan, Smuckers...I'll eat whatever is on sale. My favorite is probably all natural smuckers, crunchy Peter Pan, and creamy Skippy. One for each type of course. I tried a new type this week, Peter Pan whipped peanut butter. Yum.

Peanut Butter sandwiches- classic

Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich- even bettter

Best combination ever: Chocolate & Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter Fudge- Legit

Peanut Butter Cookies- Comfort food at its best

Liquid Peanut Butter? Heck Yes

They even make peanut butter and chocolate straight out of the jar- I've heard the Peanut Butter Co. is the best, I don't know about that, but this combo was pretty darn good

And the Absolute best BEST invention ever?!
Portable Peanut Butter- thank you!

Getting tired of hearing me ramble on about peanut butter? Good. Because I am going to stop writing and go eat some now

Lemon Cream Crazy

This is a special for Rebekah at the Cooking Vent

Lemon Cream (adapted from Epicurious)

Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
Lemon curd , chilled

Lemon Curd:

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits

Whisk together juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.
Transfer lemon curd to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour.

I added 8 oz of cream cheese and an extra cup of powdered sugar to this to thicken it up a bit. It seemed rather soupy at firsty, atleast too soupy to frost a cake. So instead of frosting the cake with it, I used it as lemon cream. So, it being a mix of lemon curd and lemon frosting, it turned into lemon cream. This also made ALOT! With this one batch of lemon cream, I made lemon cream cake, lemon cream cupcakes, and I used it as a drizzle over fresh blackberries- delicious!




Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

    adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook
    makes 12 cupcakes
    Print this Recipe!
1 cup all-purpose flour
a scant 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  
Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or use a handheld beater and beat on slow speed until the mixture is a sandy consistency and everything is combined.  Gradually pour in half of the milk and beat until the milk is just incorporated.  
Whisk the egg, vanilla and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated.  Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side or the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Continue mixing until the batter is smooth.  Just a few minutes.  Do not overmix.
Spoon the batter into paper lined muffin tins, dividing between the 12 cups.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the cupcakes cool slightly in the pan, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.  


Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

    from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook
    makes enough for 12 cupcakes, double this recipe to frost an 8-inch cake
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat the powdered sugar and butter together in an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment on medium low speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.  Turn the mixer speed to low.  Combine the milk and the vanilla extract and slowly stream it into the butter and sugar mixture.  Once incorporated, turn the mixer to high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes.  The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.  If you find that your frosting is getting to warm in the summer months, stop beating and set in the fridge for a few minutes.  Once chilled, hook the frosting back up the the mixer and beat once more until you reach the desired consistency.


So For the cupcakes, I used a Wilton piping bag, with a round tip, however Wilton does sell an extra long tip made especially for filling cakes (which I recommend buying, I am going to!) Pipe the lemon cream into the top of the cupcakes after they have cooled, before  they are iced. Then I dyed the simple vanilla buttercream frosting yellow (about 3 drops)

If y’all really like lemon, you should definately try  making the lemon cream cake I gave the recipe for.

Picture-Perfect Picnics

Summer days are coming to a close. Muggy afternoons, long days wherethe sun doesn't set til 8, afternoon thunderstorms that leave the sky darker than dusk; they all remind me that summer is ending and Fall is near. A comforting thought though as I think about chai tea, pumkins and squash, long-sleeved shirts and jazzy music.


I decided to celebrate the end of summer with all of the new friends I have acquired during my first year in college, and some old. Of course not everyone I invited could attend, but about 12 wonderful people showed up for some food and fun. We planted ourselves at Riverfront Park under the picnic tables for a light lunch- some summer fruits, veggies, and baked goods (of course).

Ashamedly it wasn't the best baking I've done, but was a simple selection of some new recipes I wanted to try.
It gets boring baking the same thing all the time. I had an abundance of lemon cream left over from my sister's Lemon Cream Cake I baked for her birthday, so I decided to put it to good use.

I made these simple vanilla cupcakes from Joy the Baker, and infused them with my special lemon cream, and ta-da! Lemon Cream Cupcakes were born. I dyed the vanilla frosting yellow and piped it prettily atop the cakes.

I also made chocolate chip cookies and cranberry oatmeal chocolate chip cookies;

and last but not least, a spice cake, also courtesy Joy the Baker. I do love her blog. There are so many wonderful recipes, none of which have failed me. Except for this spice cake, but I blame myself. As I blended the ingredients hurriedly, as it was already 11 at night, I realized I had forgotten the sugar; yeah, there's a reason the batter taste salty. So I put the batter back in the bowl and whisked in the cup of sugar. In doing so, the cake flopped- or sank in, rather. So I did what all good bakers do and ate the flopped cake- the whole thing. I made a second one, which turned out perfect!

I packed everything together (I'll spare you the boring details) and high-tailed myself up to Riverfront.

We played some friendly games of frisbee and bocci ball and took alot of photos, courtesy my talented friend Suzannah.

Here are some of the pics she took: Here
And some I took: Here

All in all this so long to summer was hot and tiring, but a memory to be had of friends and fun :)

Special Occasions- my sister's birthday

Tomorrow my big sister turns 24. Yesterday we drove up to Myrtle Beach and walked around some shops to use some time before dinner. The real reason we went up there was to eat at P.F. Chang's! Her favorite :)

I love to bake, and I wanted to make something special for her. I decided to make a lemon cream cake she could take to her office and share with her co-workers to celebrate her special day, since she has to work.
I am hoping the fresh lemon will cool off a hot summer day.
I got the recipe from Epicurious, the nifty little app  on the iPhone. I am addicted to browsing recipes on that thing!

Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Cream Frosting

For cake layers

• 2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs

For frosting

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• Lemon curd , chilled

Make cake layers:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 (8- by 2-inch) round cake pans and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.

 *It is very important that you spray the pans with pam and flour them- it is essential to the cakes coming out smooth!

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir together milk and lemon juice (mixture will curdle).

Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture in batches, beginning and ending with flour, mixing at low speed until just combined.

Divide batter between pans, smoothing tops. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes, then invert onto racks, remove paper, and cool completely.

After the cakes have cooled, I like to use a large serrated bread knife to level the cakes. Just cut off the rounded top to ensure the layers will sit level and avoid a lopsided cake

Lemon Curd Filling:

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits

Whisk together juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.

Transfer lemon curd to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour.

Beat cream and confectioners sugar with cleaned beaters until it just holds stiff peaks.

Fold one third of whipped cream into lemon curd to lighten, then fold in remaining whipped cream.

 Spread onto first cake layer:

Place second cake layer on top

This recipe called for me to use the same filling as the icing, but it was way too soupy to spread, much less decorate with, so I made a simple buttercream frosting to cover the top and decorate with:

BUTTERCREAM ICING
1 c. granulated sugar 1/2 c. butter or Crisco 1 egg white 1/2 c. butter 1/2 c. lukewarm milk 1 tsp. vanilla Put all ingredients together in small bowl and beat for 5 minutes. At first mixture will look curdled but will smooth out with beating. Spread on favorite cake.

After covering the cake I used my mom's old piping bag and tip to create rosettes around the top

Finish it off with some garnish! I used sliced lemon, yellow daisies, and baby's breath :)

Happy Birthday Rachel! My sister and best friend