Recipes galore!

A few notes to update on an old and new post.

First the new post - macaroons!
It's a recipe I've made many times in a flash - they are super easy and quick to make an are always a crowd pleaser.
The rough recipe = 2 egg whites whipped to soft peaks (you can do this by hand) + 1 teaspoon vanilla + 1 can of condensed milk + 14oz unsweetened shredded coconut + pinch of salt. Mix well, mold into shapes (I use a small ice cream scoop), bake for 25-30 minutes in a 325F oven (or until golden).

Let cool, decorate as you like!

(Psst! Are those candy melts? :P Real mini chocolate chips though.)

The old post - the recipe for the Maple Pecan Sandies:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cup toasted & ground pecans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup maple syrup

Sift flour, ground pecans, and salt in a small bowl.
Beat butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and maple syrup.
Add the flour mixture and beat until incorporated.
The dough will be a bit wet, but still holds together. If it is too wet or gloppy, add up to 1/2 cup of flour.

Separate into two disks and chill until hardened.

Roll out each disk in between two layers of plastic wrap or parchment - cut out shapes and chill them in the fridge while you work with the rest of the dough. Remember to collect the scraps to make more cookies!
When you're about done your rollin' and chillin' - get your oven ready by preheating to 350F.

Bake the cookies on a prepared cookie sheet until golden brown on the edges, about 15 minutes.
Let cool completely.

Feel free to brush some maple syrup on the top and sprinkle with sanding sugar for an added touch.

Moral of the story: bring extra butane when torching a meringue topping.

Cardinal sin, right?

But yes, I ran out of butane during the laborious torching of the meringue topping of a cake! I had tentatively (by this, I mean that I was nervous and tentative while filling the torch, not "unsure of time" in filling the torch) refilled my creme brulee torch and hoped for the best. And clearly - it was not enough because I could only get about 1/3 cake "moderately" torched!

So apologies to the birthday girl!

So yes, it was a Baked Alaska - a cake base topped with ice cream and then entirely covered with meringue which is then quickly baked or torched to get that lovely (and tasty) brown finish! The base was a chocolate chip butter cake and then layered (in a dome) with strawberry, mint, and caramel swirl ice creams (all homemade) with a layer of chocolate wafers between the layers (not homemade). I regret not taking any pictures of the cross section, but to be honest - my slice was melting!

I think that's one of the biggest pros/cons of homemade ice cream - the nature of the recipe I use yields a soft ice cream. Not soft-serve tender, but definitely scoop-able right out of the freezer! As a result, it's always ready to serve but tends to puddle quickly, unless you eat it fast. This made the ice cream very easy to mold, but it also meant that I had to work extremely fast both in the molding and the torching of the meringue. I won't mention again to bring extra butane when torching a sizeable amount of meringue, unless you've got a really professional-grade torch! (not like my little home cook Typhoon one purchased for $10)

The cake was delicious - the base was a little frozen and made it a bit difficult to cut - note for potential bakers: make a dense but thin layer. The ice creams were a good choice and the mint was a delicious twist on an after-dinner treat.

I'm ramping up for holiday project (no cards this year) and I really only have this one last weekend to get everything together - watch out for sneak peeks!

Maple Pecan Sandies

Yes, I'm still around! Apologies for the delay between posts and thanks for continuing to check in! I was commenting to a fellow blogger at work that it can be so difficult to continue regular blogging. My weekly blogging was nothing compared to her 5-days-a-week blogging! But at the end of the day - it all comes down to commitment and allocating time to do it. For me - a lot of it comes down to whether or not I can whip something up worthy enough to post. I post the fails too - but I like to post things that I hope readers out there can learn from. Like chilling your dough. VERY important. Especially if you have a warm kitchen like I do!

I made sure to dedicate some baking time this weekend, because my Brigitte cookie cutters have arrived!! All the way from Germany, these cookie cutters are a simple fluted rectangular square, but come with a complete set of interchangeable letters! So you can personalize your cookies or decorations with messages and other sweet sayings! But what to make....what to make?

When making very shape-defined cookies (like sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies) keep in mind to use cookies that are low on leavening agents such as baking soda or baking powder and has a fairly sturdy dough (not too wet = substantial amount of flour and binding agent). A weaker dough can be reinforced with some creative rolling (between plastic wrap or parchment) and lots of chilling, which should firm up the butter enough to hold the shape. Some good recipes include sugar or gingerbread cookies or simple chocolate wafers. Shortbread, if you can roll it out, is also quite good, if you can cut out the shapes. I decided to do an interesting twist on one of my favourite cookies - Martha Stewart's Maple Leaf cookies.

I came up with the name and concept first - maple cookies....with pecans! Ground pecans! Maple Pecan Sandies! (believe me, it doesn't always come to me so easily) I substituted half of the flour with toasted and ground pecans and used an entire egg instead of just the yolk. The dough was a bit wet, so I added in another 1/3 cup of flour to bring everything together.

But to the really good part (there's more? :D :D) - the cookie cutters! I ordered a set of Brigitte cookie cutters all the way from Germany and I couldn't wait to break them in. So without further ado...

Recipe to follow!

Happy birthday Liz!

It was a night that had been carefully orchestrated for weeks - a surprise (early) birthday dinner for a friend! My contribution was as driver of the unknowing birthday girl and supplier of cake. Mmmm cake. If you're wondering - it all worked out beautifully! It was so wonderful to see such genuine emotion for the guest of honor and friends - true joy, surprise, and happiness on everyone's faces! :D We had a delicious dinner (go team Left-Side-of-Table!!) and it was topped off with a surprise birthday trifle.

I'm not sure what comprises a 'true' trifle, mine was more like cake-in-a-bowl. I think I may try this concept again as it was:
1) Extremely easy to transport.
2) Saved me the trouble of icing & decorating the sides.
3) If layered well - extremely beautiful.
4) Scooping is fun!

I made additional berry sauce to top off the cake - apologies in advance for the blurry photos - I was in a bit of a rush and took it whilst sitting on my living room floor!

I kept in mind that Liz adores my zuccotto - so the 'white' filling is comprised of whipped cream with fresh raspberries, toffee candy bits, and whole toasted hazelnuts folded in. The over-powering brown layer is an orange chocolate mousse (I didn't realize I had made so much & didn't want leftovers!). The layers are alternated with dark chocolate and vanilla cake. The whole shebang is topped with more whipped cream filling, raspberries & some decorative writing.

I had some great feedback from the writing - and here is my secret: it's candy melts. Dark chocolate flavoured.
Candy melts are amazing to use in an aesthetic setting - it flows like chocolate, tastes like chocolate and hardens in a flash. Also - it's much less sensitive to temperature! So while it does melt in your hand, it's not going to disintegrate or sweat at the thought of hot lights. Even though they are an amazing medium to use - do not use them in cookies! Let me rephrase that - they are not suitable for cakes or cookies or to melt to be used in brownies (or cake). There is a reason why they are called 'candy melts'! They are not chocolate! So if you need to make some decorations for cakes or pastries, I highly recommend candy melts. They also come in a variety of colours too (you can tint the white candy melts, but sometimes they come out a bit chalky, so if it matters to you - try and source the coloured melts).

Back to Baked Goods

In case you're wondering - yes, I still have a ton of turkey left over. A hefty freezer bag full, actually! Also about 3 pints of turkey stock. Oh man. Turkey. Make it for one night - eat for a month!

But enough about turkey - back to baking! I hosted Koi at my place and she kept me company in the kitchen, always staying close to clean up any bits that would fall on the floor. Unfortunately I had a little mishap with some brown sugar and she licked up quite a few crystals! Not too many though - but enough to make her rather hyper for our evening walk! I think next time she is over while I'm cooking, I'll have to set up a gate so she stays out. Won't stop her cute little face from poking in. Awwwww....Koi. Yes, I'm a proud mum.

I've been trying to develop some recipes of my very own - yes, my own recipes! Baked good recipes! Not the "uh...what am I going to eat for dinner" type of recipes, but methods and ingredients that I know would work. The idea I had in mind was a simple twist on the whoopie pie - a chocolate chip variation! My particular twist would be to brown the butter beforehand and mix in dark brown sugar for a nutty twist.

Without further ado, I present - chocolate chip whoopie pies!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup brown sugar (gently packed)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350F.
In a small saucepan, brown the butter over medium heat.
When the butter has browned, take off the heat and mix in the sugars, stir to combine, let cool about 5 minutes.
In the meantime, sift together the dry ingredients, set aside. 
Transfer the butter & sugar mixture into a mixing bowl and beat for about 2-3 minutes or until fluffed.
Add in the egg and vanilla, mix until incorporated.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients, alternating in 3 portions with milk. Mix well.
Add chocolate chips.

Prepare your cookie sheets - scoop out about 1 tablespoon (for small whoopie pies) or 2 tablespoons (for regular whoopie pies) about 2 inches apart. For a standard 1/2 sheet pan, this would yield about 12 - 16 cookies comfortably. With wet hands, gently shape the cookies (if needed) into even and round portions to ensure even cooking.

For small whoopie pies, bake for about 12-15 minutes. For regular whoopie pies, bake for about 15-18 minutes. Check about a minute before baking time to ensure that the cookies are browning nicely and evenly. The tops should be golden but light and the bottoms should be browned. Let cool.
Frost & sandwich!

*will follow up with seven minute frosting recipe

Turkey Tales Pt 5 - The Aftermath

All in all - we ate about a third of the bird, which is pretty good for 5 1/2 people! (the 1/2 person was a late arrival)

I had a mini turkey dinner for lunch and then a delicious open-faced turkey sandwich for late dinner - what did I use?

Rye bread topped with mayo, cranberry sauce, caramelized onions, warmed turkey. Mmmmm. It was awesome.

Unfortunately I didn't make my zucchini & carrot pasta, but I'm looking to recover this week with some veggies! Perhaps with some turkey soup? Hahahaha! I did save the carcass of course and I have about 3 cups of drippings (I used a premade restaurant gravy mixed with some fresh drippings) that I can make gravy with. After reserving 7 turkey lunches for tomorrow, I don't actually have too much leftover! I pretty much managed to use up all the sides and have just a bit of onions and brussel sprouts left. It's mostly the 'post' turkey preparations - making stock and gravy really. And finishing up the rest of the turkey meat - but it's terrific protein, so I'll probably be happily snacking on it for the rest of the week.

So did I learn anything? Oh yes. Don't use 2 cups of salt in your brine. Even if the recipe says so. The meat was a touch salty (but then again, I find most things oversalted) so I would also recommend a very thorough rinse. If you can - empty your brining container and fill with fresh cool water for maybe a quick 10 minute soak/rinse to get all the residual salt off. A meat thermometer is key. An instant read for insurance as well. I don't cook large pieces of meat without both. As I mentioned previously - try to integrate as many 'make ahead' dishes as you can - the turkey is work! You don't want to be fussing over your carrot gratin while your "main attraction" is needing some TLC! I purchased a gravy separator and a baster just for the occasion, they definitely came in handy, although not completely essential.

So would I make a turkey again? For sure! But...maybe not a 20lb one. For those who are a little intimidated of making a turkey - don't be! If anything, start small with a chicken and work your way up. A chicken is a perfectly good small-scale test for a turkey - it's basically the same - but a lot (a LOT) smaller. The cooking time is shorter, there's less meat to carve, less juice to process and less leftover to worry about. If there are any leftovers at all!

Thanks for reading!

Turkey Tales Pt. 4 - The Big Day!

They came. They saw. They ate.

It was goooood.

The bird was lifted out of the brine at around 9am to chill in the fridge uncovered until it was stuffed & loaded into the oven around 11:30am for 6pm eat time. I always underestimate how awesome my oven is. It's gas - btw, top AND bottom, so yes, it's a little frightening to hear the "click click" of the ignition, but once it gets to a certain temperature, it STAYS there. Only one mishap to report too - so with an oven thermometer, I've had very good luck. I mention this because even at 375F, my turkey cooked exceptionally fast - and browned nicely about halfway, so it was tinfoil tented for the rest of the time. I had some leftover stuffing, so it got put into a loaf pan as a side.

 (Skin splittin' good!)

My side dishes didn't get started until about 4:30pm - potatoes (whole, unpeeled) were put in a large pot and boiled until tender and them mixed with cream cheese, butter, and cream. My onion bake was assembled and heated up in the last 45 minutes and I decided to skip the zucchini & carrot dish altogether as it would have been too much. Another guest brought a delicious brussel sprout dish and J (of T&J) prepared some roasted butternut squash.

What was served:
Cider brined turkey with stuffing (2 ways)
Dried cherry & cranberry sauce
'Big Martha' mashed potatoes
Roasted onion, crouton & gruyere bake
Brussel Sprouts with bacon & walnuts
Roasted butternut squash

Oh, and gravy too. Not homemade though. More on that tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving!