Parties

Celia,

One of my favorite things about living in a house with the BF is being able to hold parties. I've always preferred having parties to going to parties, but my desire to be a hostess has only intensified the more my love of food has grown. I love to feed people and I love to entertain, and I take hospitality very seriously. I also occasionally read blogs where people have put together gorgeous parties with matching themed decorations they have designed themselves - like this lady -and they make me spazz out. Mostly in jealousy. Those people, are you hiring? Do you need a...helper? Enthusiastic baker? I'm not even looking for a job right now. Anyway, I really like throwing parties.

My ideal party has a lot of food, from a carefully crafted menu, featuring savory appetizers and pretty baked sweets. I always include cheeses, now that I have my cheese tray.

This is Yancey's Bergenost, and is is entirely recommended by all tasters.

We have a never-ending supply of good beer, because we have good friends who bring it and leave it, but I like to have another featured drink. Champagne sangria is one of my favorites. It's a fun, celebratory drink that I can make in advance, and it's pretty.

I used this recipe, mostly. This is so easy: 1 bottle champagne or similar bubbly, 1 can Sprite or similar, 2 shorts bourbon, 2 shots triple sec, 1 lemon sliced, 1 lime sliced, 1 tangerine/orange/clementine sliced, pomegranate seeds. Mix it all several hours in advance, if possible, to allow flavors to meld, and keep sealed and chilled. Serve cold in champagne glasses.

Depending on the size and type of the party, I have been trying fancy "cocktail" jell-o shots lately. This one is French Lemonade, and was quite tasty. Recipe is here, and I followed it exactly.

Cake pops are tasty and fun, especially when they are really brownie pops on glow bracelets! For these: bake brownies just to "under-done," let cool. Roll into balls, freeze. Dip the end of a glow stick bracelet in melted chocolate disks and stick it into the brownie (carefully so as not to activate the glow!) and stick it in the brownie ball. Dip the whole thing in melted chocolate and then a pile of sprinkles. Let harden on parchment paper. I left the bracelet connectors out for people to use after they ate the pops.

Brie! We are a group that loves cheese. This brie, although you can't tell, is full of yummy things. It's also, again, easy! To make a deceptively simple brie en croute, take a chunk of brie and cut in half like a sandwich. Fill the center of the sandwich with very thin slices of pear and chopped walnuts. Put the top of the brie back on and put more pear slices and walnuts on top. Set the brie sandwich on store-bought croissant dough or  puff pastry and wrap it up. Decorate with cookie cutters if desired and brush with a beaten egg. Cook as directed on the dough package. Devour.

These lemon stars make an awesome party snack because they're tiny and munchable. Recipe to follow!

Lemon Star Cookies

Adapted from Land O Lakes Sparkling Candy Corn Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Sanding sugar/coarse sugar/clear sugar sprinkles

Combine butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt. Continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking soda. Beat until well mixed. Cover with plastic food wrap; refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours or overnight).

Heat oven to 375°F. Roll dough out on floured surface to between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick, as desired. Cut shapes out with cookie cutters - I use a small star from a fondant cutter set. Press shapes into the sprinkles and place on cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake 5 to 7 minutes until bottoms are light brown.

That was a brain dump post!

Amanda

Christmas Cookies!

Sister-oh-Sister,

We suck at blogging. I have baked so many things and I have failed to share them with you. I will start again! I will do better! Starting in no particular order, I want to show you the Christmas (and assorted other holidays - I am celebrating four - Christmas, Hanukkah, HumanLight, and the Solstice - this year, kind of) cookies I have made. I just packaged a bunch of them up for some coworkers, the mailman (apparently the BF chats with him regularly!) and our vet's office, since I have unfortunately been there multiple times a week lately. They're great, I just want a healthy cat. Either way, they really deserve cookies.

 Hello there, clearance Rite-Aid reindeer! Just hanging out for the photo shoot.

I picked up these boxes on sale at a craft store last year. They're Martha Stewart, so they're amazing, but I can't afford to pay full price. They come with the colored lid with the window, a bottom with scalloped edges, enough little square divider-boxes to put four in each box (they have scalloped edges too!) green paper to line the little boxes, and a green ribbon and label for each kit. I love them and love the level of obsessiveness that goes into them.

For the full roundup: so far this year I have made peanut butter blossoms, gingerbread, buckeyes, painted sugar cookies, Nutella fudge, matzoh crunch candy, Russian tea cakes, and lemon stars. I might still make lemon-rosemary shortbread (shaped like deer and moose!) for our Solstice party, but only if I'm in the mood. My kitchen table is covered in tins.

 

I'm not including recipes because there are a lot of cookies here, and I've already made the fudge, and the star recipe will eventually appear.  I get to see you soon and I am very happy!

Much love,

Amanda

Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes of Chocolatey Doom

 Celia,

This is becoming a rather one-sided blog! I have a TON of pictures and recipes I haven't posted yet, so I guess I will just share them and you can deal. Participate if you make something! This will not be in chronological order, I think.

Yesterday the boyfriend and I went to a party at his coworker's house, and I took cupcakes, because that is what I do. I had been thinking about ways to incorporate Nutella into anything, ever, and I worked up some very hazelnut-centric cupcakes. These are chocolate cupcakes, but with a suprise:

I made a mess. As usual.

These liners have really pretty patterns. They're Nordic Ware from Target.

They each have half of a Ferrero Rocher candy in the center. They would have had a whole candy, but I was afraid they would be too big. I think it would have been fine, but these were plenty tasty. I made sure to put the candies just below the surface of the batter, so they didn't sink and burn on the bottom of the pan. This particular cake batter is really thick, so it wasn't a problem. I actually ended up covering them all with a spoonful of batter at the end. The only odd thing was that the cupcakes all had a sunken spot over where the candy was. If I had been really ambitious I would have filled the sunken spot with a hazelnut butter or cream before I frosted the cupcakes, but I wasn't that ambitious. They were still tasty.


I frosted the cupcakes with a Nutella frosting that I made up as I went. I'm not sure of the measurements, but I'll post the ingredients and the approximate quantities below. It was simple and really, really tasty.

This tray is also from Target, of course. It has a lip around the edge which is nice, because it keeps the cupcakes from escaping when my boyfriend is driving like a maniac and the cupcakes are on my lap.

I topped the cupcakes with grated chocolate from my new cheese grater, the handheld type that waiters use at nice Italian restaurants. Then I tossed some chopped hazelnuts on some of them, and finished them off with dark chocolate with hazelnuts - just some melting chocolate melted and spread flat with the nuts sprinkled on. I brushed the backs of the chocolate with gold dust because I'm fancy that way, but I don't think anyone noticed. If I do it again I will be more aggressive with the brushing.

I miss you kiddo!

Love,

Amanda

The Recipes: 

Chocolate Cupcakes adapted from Cupcakes take the Cake

1 stick Butter, room temperature
1 1/4 C. Sugar
2 Eggs, room temperature
3/4 C. Flour
1 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt
1/2 C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I used Ghiradelli and then some Hershey's when I ran out, and it was good. Better chocolate always = better cake).
1/2 C. Whole Milk (Were you to not have whole milk, mixing heavy cream with 1% will yield a really, really good cupcake)
1 t. Vanilla

Yield: 12-14 cupcakes (I easily doubled it for this recipe)

Method: Preheat oven to 375 degrees, then turn it down to 350 just prior to baking

1. Beat the butter with an electric mixer until it is soft, then add sugar. Beat about 3 minutes.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time beating until they are well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk them to incorporate them.
4. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar and beat it just to combine. Add 1/2 of the liquids (milk & vanilla), scrape down bowl and beat to combine. Continue adding the dry and wet ingredients alternately making sure you END WITH THE DRY.
5. Fill muffin tins 2/3's of the way and bake for about 20-22 minutes. Allow to cool, then frost.

Nutella Frosting, made up as I went along and likely to not be exactly this recipe:

1 cup Nutella
1 1/2 sticks salted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup heavy cream
2-3 cups confectioners' sugar, or however much required to make this frosting-like in consistency

Mix the Nutella with the butter until well-combined. Add in vanilla and then confectioners' sugar and cream, alternating between the two until you get a fluffy but not runny frosting. Taste test frequently and adjust Nutella, cream, and sugar to fit your preferences. This should produce a light, fluffy, yet very chocolately frosting. Add a pinch of salt if you want to cut the sweetness, or use less vanilla.

Love Potion Salted Nutella Fudge

Celia,

I miss you! You haven't been posting! I know I am not the only baking Baker sister. Share!

Okay, so, I called this fudge Love Potion fudge because it will seriously make people love you. Not that you have any problems with that, but if you ever find yourself wishing people liked you more, feed them this fudge. They will be defenseless.

Once again, this recipe is not my own - I found at at Cookin' Canuck and I am grateful I did. Please note that the fudge in her pictures is much cleaner-cut and firmer than mine here. It was approximately 14 bajillion degrees in my kitchen when I made this, so hot that my stashes of baking and melting chocolates were melting in my cabinets. And this is with the AC running. The fudge was still delicious, and other batches have come out a little firmer. It has a pleasantly silky texture from the Nutella, and because it's a sweetened condensed milk fudge you don't have to worry about that gritty feel fudge can get. I sometimes use a thermometer when I'm making it, but sometimes I don't and it comes out fine. It's really that easy.
I use the fleur de sel Mom sent me on top of it, because that salt works great with chocolate and I use it on anything that could reasonably be salted. I imagine any sea salt would work. I do find that this salt will melt if I store the fudge in an airtight container for more than a few hours, so something with a bigger grain (or a cardboard candy box for storage) might help. The salt really brings out the sweetness of the chocolate, so I wouldn't leave it out.

Chocolate Nutella Fudge with Sea Salt
Basic fudge recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

Butter, for greasing pan
1 (14 oz. ) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz. high-quality bittersweet (60% cacao) chocolate chips
1 cup Nutella, room temperature
3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Sea salt, approximately 1/2 tsp

Grease the bottom and sides of an 8- by 8-inch baking pan with butter. Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overlap on the sides.

In a medium glass or stainless steel bowl, stir together sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, bittersweet chocolate chips, Nutella, and butter.

Form a double-boiler by setting the bowl on a medium pot of gently simmering water. (Note for Celia and readers: I do not do this. I am bad. I just use a nice, sturdy pot and cook it all in there and I have had no mishaps.) The water level should be low enough that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir until the chocolate chips are melted and the mixture is smooth, 5 to 7 minutes.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, spread the top smooth with a spatula, and sprinkle with sea salt. Refrigerate until the fudge is firm, at least 2 hours.

Run a knife under hot water, dry it off, and run it around the edges of the pan to loosen the fudge. Using the overhanging parchment paper, lift the fudge out. Peel off the parchment paper. Cut the fudge into 3/4-inch squares. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container or wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil.

Makes approximately 50 3/4-inch squares.

Have you been baking anything lately? I also want to share some garlic bread I made tonight and nommed on while reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I haven't read the books since the last one came out, and I realized while watching the last movie that I no longer had any clue what happens in the last four. So I'm re-reading them all! And um, Hogwarts SERIOUSLY needs a better bullying policy. Dumbledore is great and all, but I would NOT allow that kind of nonsense in my school. Just for the record.

Much love!

Amanda

Ridiculously Good Caramel Cupcakes

Celia,

Hi there again! Just a friendly reminder that you have tons of delicious chocolate things to post about! Ok, so, for that party I mentioned in the last post, I also decided to try an ambitious baked-good recipe. The whole point of the party, after all, was to get to cook and bake things. I like feeding people. I settled on this cupcake recipe, and Holy Moses. I can't really take credit for how amazing these are, because it was someone else's recipe, but I am so pleased with these. They are going in my inventory for things to make again and again. The recipe is from a blog called Une Gamine dans la Cuisine, and I am so amazed by this blogger.


I'm not going to copy her recipe and re-post it here, since that feels a little like stealing. Especially since I didn't adapt anything - I followed it exactly as written. I do strongly suggest you check it out though!

Some high points of the recipe: this was the first time I had made caramel, and I made it with success twice - once for the filling and once for the frosting. I might have overcooked the filling a slight amount, since it came out fairly chewy, but it was still very tasty. I also made liberal use of my fleur de sel, because salt is wonderful with caramel.


These guys are also topped with spun sugar, which was SO MUCH FUN to do. Unfortunately, we took these pictures after the sugar had started to melt, so it's hard to see how nice they looked at first. It was also approximately 14,000 degrees in my kitchen at the time, so I think that contributed to the sugar-droop that happened. Either way, I will be doing this again.

Much love!

Amanda

Cheese is Good

Celia,

We seem to have had an accidental hiatus from this lovely blog, which is not good. Part of it was because of the Sister Visit - yay! - but part is just because we are lazy! I know we both have tasty things to post about. I'll work on getting my backload taken care of, but first I wanted to show you my excellent cheese plate.

A few weeks ago, I talked the boyfriend into throwing a little party so I could cook for people. One of the things I really wanted to have was a cheese plate on a piece of slate. I have no idea where I first saw such a thing, but I thought it was great - the slate keeps the cheese cool, you can cut the cheese on it, and use chalk to write the names of the cheeses right there!

Thus began the Semi-Great Slate Quest. If it had been full-on great I would have actually gone to a tile store and asked for some sample slate tiles. I did not. I did, however, try to unearth a piece of slate the boyfriend said was living by the side of the house. When I saw that the slate was bigger than out countertop (mild exaggeration) I ditched that idea and just bought a slate tray. That one was crooked though, so I returned it and bought another one, which is the one you see here. Everyone thought the idea was good, and I thought it looked lovely!

I chose four cheeses from Spain, because I had one in mind that was Spanish and I wanted to keep a theme. I tried to choose a variety of intensities, although I hadn't tasted most of these so I had to go based on the Wegman's cheese department descriptions. The cheeses are:

Drunken Goat: This was the one I had tried before, and really liked. It's a Spanish goat cheese cured in red wine, and is medium-soft and tasty.
Miti Cana de Oveja: This is a sheep cheese that was supposedly like brie but with three different textures per slice, but I thought it tasted like Crayola crayons smell and couldn't get that out of my head after I first thought it.
Campo de Montalban: This one was a harder cheese, like a Manchego, and was quite tasty.
Torta la Serena: And this one tasted like death. It was softer and also smelled bitter and strong. One party-goer diplomatically described it as "brawny." I sent it home with a cheese-lover who said she would like to try to appreciate it.

I know this post wasn't about baked goods, but we both like cheese, so it's close enough. I am currently roasting beets for some red velvet cupcakes. Expect those soon!

Amanda

'Better Than You' Choco-HazelnutTart

Dear Amanda,

Yum.



I have dubbed this dessert "Better Than You" Tart because it puts my earlier tarts to shame. I finally gave in and bought a little food processor, brought it home, and commenced toasted-hazelnut chopping. The crust actually has hazelnut dust in it (just a heads up--I am fairly certain this is what fairies use). So goooooooood. Tricky to work with though, because the oils in the nuts make the dough much stickier than normal. I stuck it in the freezer for a few minutes after a first failed attempt at getting the crust into the pan.

I have recently become obsessed with real whipped cream, which literally and figuratively tops this off. That stuff is amazing. Cool whip is sacrilege. It shouldn't be allowed to masquerade under the guise of whipped cream. I hate cool whip.



...yes, I know those two photos were almost identical. I couldn't choose.

Ingredients:
Crust:
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick cold butter cut into pieces
4 tablespoons ice water

Chocolate Filling:
7 oz semisweet chocolate
1 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream (I can't seem to go a week without this...so bad for meee)
3 large eggs

Instructions:
-blend hazelnuts with sugar in food processor. Add flour and salt till blended. Add butter, chop until corse crumbs. Add water and form into disk. Refrigerate or freeze until firm.
-Roll it out and transfer to pan! Then refrigerate it again, until firm, because your hands probably got it all warm.
-Bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes. Cool.
-Prepare filling in saucepan by adding the chocolates and butter until melted. Stir in sugar, vanilla, and salt and then remove from heat.
-In a bowl, whisk cream and eggs a bit. Whisk this into your chocolate. Yum.
-Pout chocolate into the crust, bake 15-17 minutes at 350.
-Scrape the choco-remnants from the saucepan and eat as is or with graham crackers.
Yum.

As good as this is, my favorite dessert EVER goes to kunafa. Have you had this? I am convinced that they serve kunafa in heaven; it fits right in with the golden theme. I need to find a good recipe that is actually in English. Even then I doubt my abilities to replicate its wonders. Things that kunafa makes me think of:

-warm drinks in the bleak midwinter; tea, coffee, hot chocolate...
-cider, Christmas, and draft horses on Christmas tree farms
-fireplaces
-family
-sheep. Wooly ones on green hills at dusk.
-if the TARDIS were a dessert, she would be kunafa (so golden!)
-summer honey
-the lamp post in Narnia
-the hearts of stars

Sorry. It's just so good.

If you don't read to the bottom, you might miss this insanity.

You know what else is good? Sweetened condensed milk.

Much love,

Celia