Thursday, December 27, 2012

Happy Hoildays from LifeislikeaCupofCake!

Happy Holidays everybody! I hope everyone has had a great time so far, and here's for the New Year!
So, I'm excited and nervous to say...that for the next 28 days I'm going to be going VEGAN! Wowza. Big leap, but since we're bringing in the new year I thought I'd try something new! (and my dad is doing with me as well...he's the one who convinced me to do it ;) )
In my mind it's a pretty crazy idea, but I'm trying to get more in touch with a healthier side. I've been eating pretty badly lately (especially since the holidays have started) and it's affecting me for the worse (I just found out my blood pressure levels have increased).
I'll be posting updates and some recipes, probably not a lot will involve baking or pastry but I'll try my best to squeeze some in.
Let me know how you're Holidays have been going! :)

xxo



Friday, December 14, 2012

Tis the season tralalalala falalala

I've stumbled across this really amazing blog spoonforkbacon, and I can't stop searching through their lovely pages for recipes! All of them, fabulously plated, all the recipes look absolutely delish, and they're posted with great pictures and easy to follow directions.
Ok, the real reason to my ohmygod I'm in love, love, love with this blog deal. A friend of a friend of a friend posted drippy droppy-drool worthy pictures of her home made Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn balls. And as I sat there drooling on my keyboard, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. I decided on the spot, heck-yes I'm making these. Now let's get on the internet and make these. What am I doing tonight? Making bite size popcorn balls and avoiding my fav. mug post, (mostly because I'm incredibly indecisive) and can't decide which ones are my favorites.



Bite-Sized Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn Balls

 Makes 24-28
Ingredients:
5½-6 cups popped popcorn, lightly salted
 ¼ cup Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips, optional
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons honey
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 - 16 oz bag milk chocolate chips
 
Directions:
1. Place the popcorn and peanut butter chips into a large bowl and set aside.
2. Place the sugar and corn syrup into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
3. Once the mixture has reached 240°F (soft-ball stage) add the honey, peanut butter and vanilla.
4. Stir together until fully combined.
5. Pour the sugar mixture over the popcorn mixture and begin folding together until all of the popcorn mixture has been evenly coated and distributed.
6. Allow the mixture to cool slightly.
7. Once the mixture is cool enough to handle, lightly grease your hands and form golf ball sized popcorn balls.
8. Place the formed balls onto a sheet pan lined with parchment and allow to cool completely.
9. Place chocolate chips in the microwave to melt, 2-4 minutes or until melted all the way
10. Roll each ball in the melted chocolate and place back on the parchment paper
11. Once the popcorn balls have set, 2-4 hours, wrap them in plastic wrap or wax paper before serving.
(Adapted from spoonforkbacon )

More posts soon!
xxo

Monday, November 26, 2012

thanksgiving thanksgiving thanksgiving

a night full of laughs and great food, to give thanks and look around the table only to realize you have everything you need sitting next to you, and on a plate in front of you.

to hide identities I thought of a nifty way to do so! a still homey picture with some-what censored faces... ( I forgot to ask) + (we're running from the CIA....hehe just kidding)



Here are a few of my new favorites...

Cardamom Ice Cream
makes 1 to 1 1/2 quarts


2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
pinch kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Put all the ingredients into a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan with a lid and cook, uncovered, over medium heat, whisking occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat. Cover and let the mixture steep at room temperature for 20 minutes. Pour the micture into a shallow pan or bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill completely, 1 to 2 hours.

When the mixture is cold, pour it into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Using a rubber spatula, transfer the ice cream to an airtight glass or plastic freezer container. Cover tightly and freeze until the ice cream is firm, at least 4 hours.


I made these little tartlets with the leftover filling


Pumpkin Brûlée Tart
Makes 2, 13 x 4" tarts

Dough;
1 1/2 cup flour ( I did half all purpose, half whole wheat)
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cubed

Whirl together flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse into pea-size pieces. Drizzle 1/3 c.very cold water over crumbs and pulse just until moistened.
Turn dough onto a work surface and gather into a ball, turning to combine any dry crumbs.
Divide dough in half, form each into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 30 minutes.

Filling;
2 cups pumpkin puree, canned or homemade
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
3/4 cup sugar, plus more for caramelizing top
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
 
 Cut dough in half and shape each piece into a rectangle. Roll each out on a lightly floured work surface into a rectangle measuring about 7 by 16 in.

Preheat oven to 375°. Lay each dough rectangle over a 4- by 13-in. tart pan with removable bottom.

Lift and lower dough into pan (pushing can cause cracking). Trim edges flush with rim of pan, using your thumb or a metal spatula.

Cut pieces of parchment paper to fit into tart shells with about 1 in. overhang on all sides. Fill shells with pie weights. Set pans on a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake until dough is starting to brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool on sheet until only slightly warm, then carefully pour out pie weights and remove parchment.

Meanwhile, blend remaining ingredients (except sugar for caramelizing) in a large bowl. Pour custard mixture into prepared tart shells, dividing evenly.

Reduce heat to 325°. Bake tarts until custard is set and is slightly puffed at edges, about 30 minutes. Cool 1 hour, then chill at least 2 hours and up to 2 days, covering with plastic wrap once cold.

Remove tarts from pans and set on a serving platter. Sprinkle tops of tarts generously with sugar. Pass flame of a blowtorch over tops until sugar melts and turns golden brown. Let sugar cool until hard, then cut each tart into pieces.
 
 
 
 



xxo

tossing around some ideas

hand-crafted clay flowers on the side of the canal bank in Brugee, Belguim (from summer)



I'm always looking for new and fun ways to inspire myself to make new blog posts. I've been thinking about doing a post about my favorite teas and mugs, since you know, tis' the season to be cold and rained on. Maybe even snowed on! (SNOW, GUYS! SNOW!) Throwing around the idea for fun kitchen gadgets and some grand winter essentials. Maaaybe winter DIY's? :) Fav cookbooks even? Stay updated ladies and gents, I'll be pumping out the fun posts soon.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Lemon Ginger Zucchini Bread


As of late I've had two things on my brain, vegetables, and healthy baking. I have decided that if I'm going healthy this is going to be my extreme favorite of guilty pleasures. Lemon Ginger Zucchinni Bread! It's hearty, and has whole wheat flour in it! As well was candid ginger.

I found it on one of my most favorites of  favorited blogs. 3191milesapart. They the are two lovely ladies who wrote this wonderful book A Year of Mornings and a few other new collaberations. Maria Alexandra Vettese (MAV) and Stephanie Congdon Barnes (SCB). Their blog as well as their books are absolutely beautiful, I would recommend checking them out! Maybe even spending the day looking throughout their blog like I do.


All of these things tie into eachother! The colors, green zucchini, yellow ginger, the brown sugar and whole wheat flour add to it and create a smooth and beautiful brown that really comes out when the bread browns on the top in the oven. Zucchini and Whole wheat = healthy, Lemon = tastey, and Ginger = Laura's favorite accent spice EVER. Combimed together equals the most delicious savory and a little sweet bread loaf I have yet to come across. Bake it. Eat it. Share it. Then freeze it!




I used Whole Wheat Pastry flour instead of Whole Wheat, because whole wheat has a thicker texture, where as the pastry flour is thinner so you'll still get the whole wheat flavor without a grainy texture. I also used the grater on our food processor and found that it was as easy as one, two, three! No cut fingers, and you can avoid the zucchini that can turn to mush when using a hand held grater.




Lemon Ginger Zucchini Bread

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/2 cup crystalized ginger ( found mine at PCC, I believe you can find it at Trader Joe's too)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a large loaf pan, 9" x 5".

Place grated zucchini in a towel and wring out as much moisture as possible. Cream butter and brown sugar in a mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, mix to combine, add zucchini.

In separate bowl, mix together flours, baking soda and powder, salt and cinnamon. Toss in crystalized ginger and lemon zest. Make sure the ginger pieces are coated with flour, so they won't stick together.

Add the dry to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Fill the prepared pan with the batter.

Bake for 45-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out cleanly and the loaf is nicely browned on top.

Store bread at room temperature, or slice up and freeze for a nice treat later on!


From: (3191milesapart)


Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Almost Fall


Fall has been visting us in Seattle. Seeping through the defined line of summer and turning into fall, through the leaves changing colour and getting darker earlier.
Now is the time for light jackets, long pants, and boots, boots, boots. Then comes the rain and having everything be dark by 5 or 6:30pm.
I start school on the 24th. Not so sure that I'm ready for it, but I know I'll go into it with an open mind and open arms.




Loving the sunshine, but craving the curl-up-with-a-book and warm socks weather. This month I've got popcorn on the brain.



Mmmm mmmm yummy

Honey Caramel Corn
 
10 - 12 cups popped popcorn (around 1/2 cup kernels)
1 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Sea salt
 
 
Melt butter, sugar and honey over medium heat in a medium saucepan. When mixture reaches a boil, reduce heat and simmer for three minutes. Take off heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda (the mixture will foam a little bit when you add in the baking soda) In a large bowl, toss popcorn, nuts (we went sans nuts this time) and caramel mixture to thoroughly coat. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Spread popcorn on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with seat salt. Bake in oven for 45 minutes, making sure to stir at the halfway point. Allow to cool, break apart and store in an air-tight container.







(Adapted from: 3191 Miles Apart)

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Dungeness Crab Cakes with Orange Tarragon Butter Sauce


Monday night I successfully hosted a dinner party!

With two of my very best friends, kind of a last (but not really the last) shi-bang before we all go our different ways for college. We made a three course dinner plan and all of it turned out fabulous. For appetizers I made Crab Cakes, Jenny (on the left!) made a delicious Caesar Salad, and for the main course, Simona (on the right!) made Steak Gyros! Mmm mm mmmmm! So good!

It was so great to hang out and to cook together. In Simona's words...in the kitchen I'm known as a little bossy (oops!) But I didn't get that vibe this time. It was all laughs and lots of pictures. :) In between courses we huddled together onto my tiny, tiny, couch and watched episodes of Supernatural. Two episdoes later...."anyone hungry?" "Let's make Gyros!" Four episodes later, "Ice cream?" Yes.
So...we sat at the table for the Crab Cakes and then migrated to the couch after that. But that's what I love, a well planned dinner party with lots of Supernatural episodes, lots of laughs, and memories I'll never forget. Here's to all of the dinner parties to come!



Dungeness Crab Cakes   (Prep Crab Cakes first, then make sauce)
with orange tarragon butter sauce
Serves 4 as a main course. 6 to 8 as an appetizer.

10 ounces cooked Dungeness crabmeat, fresh or frozen
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
3 tablespoons diced red bell pepper, we used orange! ahhh food police!3 tablespoons diced shallots
3 tablespoons chopped parsley, skipped it this time
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch ground white pepper
Dash Tabasco sauce
Pinch celery salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons clarified butter or canola oil


Prep
Thaw crabmeat if frozen. Gently squeeze crabmeat to remove excess moisture, breaking up any larger pieces.

In a large bowl, mix together 3/4 cup of the panko (reserving the remaining 3/4 cup for coating), bell pepper, shallots, parsley, lemon juice, sherry, cream, egg, salt, pepper, Tabasco, celery salt and paprika. Combine thoroughly to make a batter. Add crabmeat and mix well. Divide mixture into 8 (or 12) balls. Using hangs, form patties and coat with the remaining panko. Refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour.


** While your crab cakes are chilling in the refridgerator lets switch to making the Orange Tarragon Sauce!

Orange Tarragon Butter Sauce
Yield: 1 cup

1 teaspoon canola oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1 cup Chardonnay
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves (about 5 sprigs), chopped, or 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
1/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into small pieces
Kosher salt
Freshly ground white pepper


In a wide 2-quart saute pan, heat oil over medium heat and saute shallots until translucent. Add wine and orange juice. Bring mixture to a roiling boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until mixture reduces to about 3/4 cup of liquid, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add cream and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to medium and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until about 3/4 cup liquid remains, about 10 to 12 mintues. Add tarragon and stir. Add butter a piece at a time, stirring until well incorporated. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

** Back to the Crab Cakes!

In a large skillet or nonstick pan, heat clarified butter or oil over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Reduce heat to medium and add crab cakes. Sear until coating is golden brown and lightly crispy, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Add more butter or oil as needed to the pan to prevent crab cakes from sticking.
Serve with Orange Tarragon Butter Sauce. 


Enjoy everyone!






















xxo Laura

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Do you guys like the new layout?

It's very pink.....but also something new! I'll try it out and see how it goes.


Sorry I've beem MIA, but I have stories and recipes and my oh my. Everything good :) Headed to bed now, but new posts start tomorrow!
Excited? I AM.

xxo Laura

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Homemade Honey Lavender Icecream



Molly Moon's at home! Two weeks before summer started... we've been working on ice cream in my Culinary Arts class and I had a need, a need to make ice cream at home. I had a couple titles in mind, having looked... no, more like dug through the entire cookbook section at Barnes and Noble for the book I came for and alas! It was no where to be found. But luckily I stumbled across this lovely! And swiftly it was bought and taken home, and has now been used for it's very first time for my favorite Molly Moon's recipe, Honey Lavender. 

Although I'm still debating with myself on wheather or not its fair to post the recipe for Honey Lavender online.

~ It turned out delicious, but it needed to be churned longer, seeing as it had the consistency of soft serve ice cream and started to melt after being out of the freezer for about 30 seconds. Alas! I won't give up until I've made the perfect icecream!!!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Marshmallows are messy.

Unexpected.
Fun nevertheless, but definitley unexpected.

Ooey Gooey MARSHMALLOWS. With the up coming fourth of july I wanted to make homemade s'mores makings (minus the chocolate). That began today with my first marshmallow makings. Let me tell you, totally, utterly unexpectable. Good, and I'm extremely proud of myself for making marshmallows at home. Got the mallows down, now on to the graham crackers.

My crafty solution to an unclipable thermometer. Tada!
Marshmallowies becoming Marshmallows!

The mess that follows when transferring from bowl to pan


Almost finished product. Setting in the pan before being cut up.











Marshmallows Makes 36 medium or 16 large
Time Commitment: 2 hours

2/3 cup water, divided
3 (1/4 ounce) envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Toppings ~1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toastedPrepLightly oil the inside of an 8 by 8" pan with canola oil. Generously coat with confectioners' sugar, set aside.

Pour 1/3 cup of the water into the bowl of a stand-mixer. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water, and let stand for about 10 minutes, or until gelitan has softened.

In sauce pan, off heat, combine remaining 1/3 cup water and granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Place the pan over medium-high heat. Clip a candy thermometer to the inside of the pan and make sure it does not touch the bottom. Cook mixture without stirring until it reaches 240 °F. Brush down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush, dipped in water, to gently wipe away any residual sugar crystals.

With the mixture on low speed very carefully add the hot syrup to the softened gelatin. Add the vanilla, increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 8 - 13 minutes, until mix becomes very white as well as stiff and sticky.

This is where you prepare yourself for things to get messy. (See pictures below for reference.)Spread mixture into prepared pan using a lightly oiled spatula. Harder than it sounds. An extra pair of hands would be highly recommended at this point. With wet hands, press batter evenly into the corners of the pan. Set aside for 1 hour, until firm and cool.


Sift powdered sugar into a small bowl. Run a wet knife around pan and remove marshmallows, then cut them up, to whatever sizes of your choosing.


How to Store:
Layer with wax paper. In an air-tight container for up to 1 month. :) :)


Although this recipe is incredibly messy... it is entirely worth it! I've been testing (eating is more like it) the mallows and yum, yum, yum! They're goooood. I didn't cut the up, kind of just pulled pieces off.




















































Saturday, June 30, 2012

Orange Spice Sipping Chocolate Review



Also known as Theo hot chocolate! :)



I've fallen in loooooove. Sweet, yummy dark chocolate loooooooove. Hot chocolate....in June? Say Whaat? Well here in Seattle, it's muggy, rainy, and icky. It seems like every sunny day we get, we're then punished with two more weeks of dark and rainy weather. I say, no bueno! Here's the scoop; this past week I've been babysitting my Culinary Arts Chef's daughter. :) And of course she has all of these fun and extremely cool foodie things. She had a container of it open, told me to try it, and I did and instantly fell in love with it, and she gave me an unopened container!! How sweet is that?
It's as thick as making your own homemade hot chocolate tends to be but you can also vary the thickness of it by how much chocolate you put into each serving too! Tehehe, well I wanted to express my love for Theo's Organic Orange Spice Sipping Chocolate and all of it's thick, chocolately loveliness it contains. :) It has 11 servings and is also fairly inexpensive!


One Serving calls for
1/2 cup milk (or any dairy alternative) heated in a small pot over medium heat until steaming
Then add 3 Tbs of the sipping chocolate (or more if you want it thicker), whisk that in
and then drink away! :)
Yum nom


(Theo picture borrowed from Fig and Walnut)

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Blueberry Muffins!

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and SPRING IS HERE FINALLY!!!!! We've being waiting for so long. It's time to whip out those dresses, skirts, and sandals to go soak up those sunny rays. I was looking through this blog 3191 Miles Apart, which is a absolutely fabulous blog, they have a book based off the blog that started it all, and it's one of my favorite books, full of pictures of course. But not just any pictures, the most fun, inspiring, and relaxing group of pictures I've ever seen. These two women met and had similar styles and decided to post pictures of their mornings each day. The similarities between both pictures each day if fascinating.

Ah-ha! Okiee, back to my point! Blueberry muffins...yum, yum, yum! Actually though, I surprised myself...these are goood! The first day I made them Tuesday, I ate two for breakfast and then two more afterschool... No bueno. At that point I decided it was time for them to go, and I brought them and left them at a friends house. ; ) I was looking through their blog, and I found a good-looking blueberry muffin recipe, and then I was inspired. It required whole wheat flour, which I love whole-heartedly, but I was looking for that lovely white and blueberry speckled muffin tops, so I went on and looked for another recipe. That's when I stumbled across the Smitten Kitchen, and that's when I FOUND IT. BLUEBERRY MUFFINS. I instantly thought blueberry muffins? YUM. It was settled.

I did change a couple things...instead of lemon zest, I used orange zest. I added in 2-4 drops of tangerine oil, as well as a little lemon juice and I added in more blueberries, it got to the point where some of my muffins didn't even have blueberries.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

Makes 10 - 12 standard-sized muffins

(Skip the organics if you want! Either way works :) )


5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 large organic egg
3/4 cup organic plain yogurt (I used Nancy's Organic)
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2-4 drops tangerine oil Optional!!1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen don't defrost) (I used frozen! Works just fine!)

Topping
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 an orange zest

Preaheat oven to 375℉. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt, juice and oil. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another bowl and mix. Then add half to the batter until combined, mix in last half. JUST MIX UNTIL FLOUR BITS DISAPPEARS. No more than that! Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough will be thick, which is why an ice cream scoop is a fabulous thing to use when scooping your muffins! You will want the muffin cups to be about 3/4 of the way filled. Toppings! This is when you should put it on! Sprinkle a generous amount of sugar over the top of each muffin, then zest a bit of the orange on top of that on each muffin. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Let cool on rack (or eat instantly!) Yum! Enjoy!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Knead and Feed

Spring is...Spontaneous road trips up to Whidbey

I love the conversations that come up over coffee, in a small town, in a heavenly bakery, with cinnamon rolls the size of your head.
Two weeks ago, we drove up to Whidbey island for a couple of days. (I was on break from school) After a great couple of days of just doing nothing, we read, slept in, went to the beach and spent the majority of our days outside, my friend Erin, and I decided it was time to go into town!
Coupeville, is fabulous. It's main street is filled with fun and exciting shops that range from cute antiques, a touch of dutch, to the best ice cream you will ever meet at Kpaw's. At the very end of main street is this ADORABLE bakery/restaurant called Knead and Feed. Now and forever in my mind, it will be known as the bakery with the GIANT CINNAMON ROLLS.  (We bought one, and split it, half of these is more than enough.)  It's true, Knead and feed pride themselves in making their wonderfully huge and oh so delicious cinnamon rolls.

Seriously though...HUGE!

The staff is so incredibly nice, it was like a dream come true. A small town bakery with inexpensive coffee and giant cinnamon rolls. Everyone knew everyone, so when we came in, I think it was a little confusing because the highschoolers of Coupeville were in school, and us of course, we were not... >:) But they extended their hospitality and welcomed us with happy conversations and a wonderful atmosphere.
Knead and feed has found the way to my heart, and it's sad that it's so close, yet so far away. I often find myself craving another giant cinnamon roll. Mother's Day is coming up, and I've been spending every free second I have scouring the internet and looking through all my best cookbooks for the best giant cinnamon roll recipes!!!! When I find one, you'll know. ; )


Here are some more pictures from our trip!!!

Erin and I, hanging out at Fort Ebey


Erin in Knead and Feed. In the background you can see their cold case of yummy baked goods!

Low tide in Coupeville

Walking through the fields at the back of the house we were staying at! Lots of lady bugs



Let's get right into it...

Spring is...

Spontaneous road trips to Whidbey...

the perfect blueberry muffins
...

when you ditch the car at home and ride your bike to school...

oatmeal for breakfast...

the perfect Friday morning dutchbaby...

early Saturday mornings...

finishing up the week with a quick roller derby practice sesh!!

So, I'm trying out a new thing, to get me to post some more blogs of course!!! I'm having a blog every day this week, week. ; ) Let's see if it works! Here are some little fun teasers for the upcoming week! I'll try and post pictures too!! As well as a recipe with every post! :D Happy Monday!!!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies You will EVER MEET ... and eat

aka Jim Lahey's Chocolate Chip cookies.

Hello my loves! Does it seem like I've forgotten about my blog? Because it feels like it... Sorry!! But I'm back with lovely recipes and great stories, prepare yourselves!  Read, Bake, and Enjoy!

I am aware that I do in fact, say this about ever single chocolate chip cookie recipe I ever make. But guys, GUYS! THIS IS THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE I have yet to come across.

These lovely, lovely cookies become flat when baking, but when you bite into them, they're full of flavor, and chewy and yum. Oh my yum. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water. They are most likely some of the cutest cookies, you think all c.c cookies will be chunky because of the chocolate chips, but noo! They flatten out after only five minutes in the oven.

After learning about Jim Lahey's fabulous cookies, we baked not only two batches, but three batches of cookies... which were all eating within the first hours of their freshly baked cookie-lives. From my point of view, eating between five and ten of these cookies is totally ok. They are thin and have a small amount of chocolate chips (although when I baked them, I added in a couple more then called for ; ) ) therefore, completely justified. Go ahead, eat ten, no biggie my friends.


Scrumptious pictures shall be posted tonight!!

Love these as much as I do!

xx

Jim Lahey's Chocolate Chip CookiesMakes 15 - 20 cookies

Ingredients
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I used unbleached white wholewheat flour)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temp (if you don't have large eggs, take two small eggs, and use 1 and half of another...and you'll have 1 large egg)1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Prep
Preheat oven to 425 ℉, and arrange racks into upper and lower thirds of your oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and side aside.
Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl.
Using and electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and both sugars in a larger mixer bowl about 2-3 minutes, until combined.
Add egg and vanilla; beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add dry ingredients, and reduce the speed to low, mix until blended.
Then fold in chocolate chips.

Scooping
Spoon out heaping tablespoons of dough onto your prepared baking sheets. (I used a small ice cream scooper) Be sure the keep the scoops small, they may look like not enough, but *remember* they spread out when baking.
Bake until cookie edges are golden brown, about 6 - 8 minutes, and rotate the pans halfway through!
After you take them out of the oven, carefully transfer them to a wire cooling rack, they will be VERY fragile.

:)





Adapted from: Bon Appetit

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Orange Cranberry Chocolate Chip Scones

I made these a few weeks ago with one of my very best friends and I'm happy to say that these were the most delicious, almost healthy and incredibly easiest scones I've ever made. (I'm a big scone person, to say the least). We replaced All purpose flour with Whole wheat pastry flour. Instead of making an orange-y glaze to put on top, we mixed the orange zest into the dough and they ended up being pretty, textured,  moist and sweet! Therefore, these lovely scones are not only easy and fun to make, but healthy and are a delicious companion to your morning tea or coffee!


I've made them three more times this past week, will be posting a picture soon!
Love them as much as I do.



Orange Cranberry Chocolate Chips Scones


2 cups Whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp COLD butter
Zest of an orange
1/4 cup organic raw sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 - 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup (pick any of the following!): milk, almond or soy milk
1 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze (totally optional!) I highly suggest trying it without the glaze, and then if you don't like it...go all out and make the glaze!
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Zest of another orange
Orange juice, from the zested orange

Preheat the oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Zest an orange and mix the zest with the sugar, set aside.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut the 5 TBSP of butter into horizontal slices, and then cut those slices in half again. Make small cubes! Cut into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter, fork, or use your hands. (But be careful not to melt the butter with the heat of your hands!!) Mix the butter and the flour until there are small crumbs and no large clumps of butter. Stir in the sugar, cranberries, and chocolate chips. Measure the milk, add the vanilla, then stir in the flour mixture. The dough should be slightly sticky, if it looks like you need to add a little more milk, add a little more milk!
Do not, I repeat! Do not knead the dough! Bring the dough together into a ball. Use a little extra flour as needed when cutting the dough. Pat it out into a 1.5 inch thick round. Cut the round into 8 triangles. Place the triangles slightly apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, while turning the baking sheet half-way through the baking time, bake until the tops of the scones are golden on the edges.

To make the glaze, just mix the powdered sugar with orange zest and juice! Make sure the keep the glaze thick because it will melt a little bit when you bit it and become thinner on the scones.

Adapted from: honeybeecooksjackfruit

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

A sad day, but a so incredibly happy and wonderful experience

I was a little girl alone in my little world who dreamed of a little home for me.
I played pretend between the trees, and fed my house guests bark and leaves, and laughed in my pretty bed of green.
- Dream, Priscilla Ahn





I don't think I have ever mentioned this before, but for the last couple of months I have been interning at the Flying Apron Bakery, in Fremont, Washington. And I have loved every single minute. It was without a doubt a dream come true. I was working in this wonderfully successful bakery without any outside experience, (except what I had learned in school). I started interning for my senior project at the beginning of October 2011 coming in two to three days a week and have been interning there for two days a week ever since.
My coworkers are wonderful people with incredibly kind hearts, I always leave smiling or laughing. :) Our baked goods are great, and oh-so-fun to make! The atmosphere and the customers are lovely and I have always felt so at home. Although, I am sad to say that because of my school schedule they no longer need me as an extra pair of hands on those two days during the week. But I have nothing to say but joyous things. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. If anything, working here has solidified my decision on what I am doing with my life after I am out and graduated from high school. As of right now, I am in the middle of my application to the C.I.A (Culinary Institute of America), and on my way to filling out a couple more applications to Culinary schools in my area.
I want to say so much more, but I also feel like if I do, I will constantly be repeating myself... :) What else can I say? I am so blessed and I am so grateful to have had the chance to experience what I have experienced. To all of my Flying Aprons, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. You will never know how much you have done for me. I am sad it is over, but I am so unbelievably happy, I don't know how to say it any other way. But thank you for all you have done. ♥

Monday, February 6, 2012

Not your typical Chocolate Chip Cookies

This week is finals week, and as a high school senior I am doing what I do best.  Procrastinating! To me, it's always seems like I find the recipes I like the most, or that turn out the best when I'm avoiding school work. :) Although, I'm not recommending this trend! Study, sleep, and bake to de-stress yourself throughout finals week.

The first time I made these cookies, I brought one downstairs to my mom for her to try and she took and bite, and then said. . . "That is not your typical chocolate chip cookie!" Thus, the title of this post. :)

Soooo. . . lately I've really been trying to eat healthy. I'm trying to get into the habit of it so I can drop a bunch of weigh for PROM. >:) Hip Hip Hooraaay! Anyways, one afternoon I was sitting at home, and !SUDDENLY!  I had a massive craving for chocolate chip cookies. Now trying to be healthy, I thought of the lovely idea to make a point to find a recipe that used Whole Wheat flour instead of All-purpose. And I did! I did! I did! It's yummy, it's a fun recipe to make, and I brought them into my art class on the last day of the semester and everybody love, love, loved them.



Recently I had heard about 'browning the butter' for a chocolate chip cookie recipe in Cook's Magazine. Well, I decided to try browning the butter in this recipe! I think it turned out fantastic, but some with more experience may beg to differ. These cookies are soft when they come out of the oven, but become crunchy fast, that may be because of the browned butter process but I'm not positive. Nevertheless, they're delicious.



Although this recipe says it makes 3 dozen, I each time I've made these I have got about 5 dozen. But I wasn't too uniform about the size of each cookie. Most were an inch to an inch and a half across, and some were bigger. Lately I've been in the mood for smaller bit-sized cookies, but it just depends on your preference. Another reason my cookies look so unchocolate chip cookie-ish, is because I was seriously slacking on chocolate chips! I used 12 oz instead of the called for 16 oz. But, I would HIGHLY recommend you stick with the 16 oz.


Ice cream scoop used as a cookie-scooper!
I'll also be posting the video I used to figure out to brown the butter for my cookies. Basically, browning the butter is browning the milk solids in the butter. Doing that, brings out a nice, very flavorful natural nutty flavor. Too good.






Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 55 mins
Ingredients
  • 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 cup whole spelt flour (or an additional cup of whole wheat pastry flour)* I used ww
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, BROWNED** ~See video~
  • 1 1/2 cups raw (turbinado) sugar
  • 1/3 cup real maple syrup
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (60% or higher)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 ℉ degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
  3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, then beat in the sugar.
  4. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
  5. Whisk in the vanilla extract and maple syrup.
  6. Add the dry ingredients in 3 increments, stirring between each addition. Once you’re done mixing in the last of the dry ingredients, you should have a moist, uniformly brown dough.
  7. Stir in the chocolate chips and oats by hand until they are evenly distributed. Put some muscle into it!
  8. Drop about two tablespoon* of dough per cookie onto the baking sheet, leaving about two inches of space around each cookie.
  9. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until the tops are just golden. Err on the side of underbaking.
  10. Allow the cookies to set on the baking sheet for about a minute and transfer them to a cooling rack. If desired, sprinkle with a pinch of Maldon salt. Serve with a glass of milk, of course!

    **Ice cream scoopers can also be used as a clean way to scoop cookies. 

    Adapted from: Cookie + Kate

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Christmas Christmas Cookiess!

Christmas Sugar Cookies
Here are some pictures of a massive but lovely cookie-decorating escapade over Christmas break!



Yum!

:)

Not your typical Chocolate Chip Cookies....be expecting them soon!

Ultime Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling

Have you ever been asked to bake sixty cupcakes at 9 o'clock on a Friday night when you have had to get up early and go to work the next morning? I have. And I can tell you they turned out to be a great success and not only did we reach our goal of sixty cupcakes, but we also ended up baking ten extra. Seventy cupcakes!! Woohoo!

Thankfully, I had some another wonderful set of hands to help me. My lovely mama, we worked lightning fast, and had everything baked and set out to cool in record time. 

While I was at work the next day, my wonderful dad helped out by making frosting and decorating the cupcakes, team effort right?

 These delicious cupcakes have ganache fillings! As well as Swiss Meringue Buttercream on top.

 Enjoy
(and eat three! Like I did....oops :) )








Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling
Makes 12 cupcakes
*NOTE:
*Use a high-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate for this recipe, such as Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar.
*Although we all highly recommend the ganache filling, you can make a more traditional cupcake and just leave the ganache out.

Ganache Filling
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar


Chocolate Cupcakes 
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped fine (see note) 
1/3 cup (1 ounce) Dutch-processed cocoa  
3/4 cup hot coffee  
3/4 cup (4 1/8 ounces) bread flour  
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar  
1/2 teaspoon table salt  
1/2 teaspoon baking soda  
6 tablespoons vegetable oil  
2 large eggs  
2 teaspoons white vinegar  
1 teaspoon vanilla extract  


Instructions For Cupcakes:

1. FOR GANACHE FILLING: Place chocolate, cream, and confectioners’ sugar in medium microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave on high power until mixture is warm to touch, 20 to 30 seconds. Whisk until smooth; transfer bowl to refrigerator and let stand until just chilled, no longer than 30 minutes. 


2. FOR CUPCAKES: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 . Line standard-size muffin pan (cups have ½-cup capacity) with baking-cup liners. Place chocolate and cocoa in medium bowl. Pour hot coffee over mixture and whisk until smooth. Set in refrigerator to cool completely, about 20 minutes. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. 


3. Whisk oil, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla into cooled chocolate-cocoa mixture until smooth. Add flour mixture and whisk until smooth. 

4. Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Place one slightly rounded teaspoon ganache filling on top of each cupcake. Bake until cupcakes are set and just firm to touch, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before frosting, about 1 hour. 


Meringue-Style Chocolate Buttercream


Makes about 2 1/4 cups
Cool the chocolate to between 85 and 100  before adding it to the frosting. If the frosting seems too soft after adding the chocolate, chill it briefly in the refrigerator and then rewhip it until creamy. The frosting can be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container. When ready to frost, place frosting in a microwave-safe container and warm briefly on high power until just slightly softened, 5 to 10 seconds. Once warmed, stir until creamy. 


1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces) granulated sugar  
2 large egg whites   
Pinch table salt  
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter , softened and cut into 1-tablespoon pieces 
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate , melted and cooled (see note) 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions for Frosting:
1. Combine sugar, egg whites, and salt in bowl of stand mixer; place bowl over pan of simmering water. Whisking gently but constantly, heat mixture until slightly thickened, foamy, and registers 150 on instant-read thermometer, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Place bowl in stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat mixture on medium speed until consistency of shaving cream and slightly cooled, 1 to 2 minutes. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, until smooth and creamy. (Frosting may look curdled after half of butter has been added; it will smooth with additional butter.) Once all butter is added, add cooled melted chocolate and vanilla; mix until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light, fluffy, and thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds, scraping beater and sides of bowl with rubber spatula as necessary.


5. TO FROST: Mound 2 to 3 tablespoons frosting on center of each cupcake. Using small icing spatula or butter knife, spread frosting to edge of cupcake, leaving slight mound in center.




Love, Love, Love these little cupcakes as much as we have!
xo Laura