January 22, 2014September 5, 2020 by Rachel Sally

As Promised

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This post is a wee bit out-of-season. You might not be able to find candy canes at the grocery store.
Check the clearance section. If you still can’t find any, you’re S.O.L.

Just kidding. I advocate the use of sprinkles, as you probably already know.

I’ve made lofthouse-style cookies once before, and dumped on the brand in a whiny post a lo o o o o ong time ago.

I am not providing a link to said post, and don’t you go nosing around for it either, primarily because the photos look like they were taken with a flip phone from 2007 (Razr, anyone? I had the Pebl. Gr8.) and I don’t want to be reminded of that.

Ok? Ok. Glad we talked about this.

These lofthouse cookies are the (late) peppermint post that I promised would infuriate you.

Be happy, because I came thisclose to not only posting a candy cane post after the holidays, but making it a repeat recipe from the-post-that-shall-not-be-~~named~~-searched.

THISCLOSE. But. I found another promising recipe, and ran with it.

This one uses cake flour and corn starch, as well as shortening (Don’t look at me like that. I know. Deal with it.) to keep the cookies super soft and fluffy, where the last recipe used sour cream.
These were more cakey than real lofthouse cookies, but nevertheless, delicious, and pretty damn close to the addictively gross originals.

I topped them with a salty espresso + chocolate buttercream and a smattering of crushed candy canes for crunch. (Hellooooo alliteration nicetomeetyou.)

P.S. I realize that these photos are very similar looking. No, this isn’t one of those spot-the-difference games.

I’m just lazy, which should further confirm your idea of me as a bad blogger.

Anyways! Good luck finding candy canes. Ha.

Chocolate and Peppermint Lofthouse Cookies
makes about 15 cookies
cookie portion adapted from Cooking Classy
ingredients:
for the cookies:
300 grams (2 1/2 cups) cake flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
110 grams (1/2 cup, 8 tablespoons) butter
55 grams (1/4 cup, 4 tablespoons) vegetable shortening
200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar
scant 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg plus 1 egg white
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

for the frosting:
60 grams (~2 ounces) dark chocolate, melted
110 grams (1/2 cup, 8 tablespoons) butter
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoons espresso powder
45 grams (1 1/2 cups) powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

to assemble:
2 candy canes, chopped finely or ground in a food processor

directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and shortening and beat for 2 minutes.
Add in the sugar and salt and beat for 3 minutes.
Add the egg and egg white as well as the vanilla and beat for 4 full minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder together.
Scrape the sides of the bowl after 4 minutes of beating, then add in the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
To bake, remove the dough from the fridge and roll out to 1/2 inch thickness, or perhaps a little less, on a well-floured surface.
Cut out desired shapes and place on parchment lined baking sheets.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until set.
To make the frosting, beat the butter and espresso powder on high until very soft.
Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder over the butter and mix on low; mixture will be dry.
Add the salt and, with the mixer running on medium speed, stream the melted but cooled chocolate into the frosting.
Beat until completely homogeneous.
To frost the cookies, place a generous tablespoon of frosting onto the cookie, and spread out with a butterknife or offset spatula.
Dust with candy cane pieces.

January 15, 2014 by Rachel Sally

Slump, Grunt, Buckle

Snorfle, sniffle, slurp.

Can we take a moment to appreciate the ridiculous names bestowed upon cobblers, crisps, and the like?

Betty, buckle, cobbler, crisp, crumble, grunt, pandowdy, slump, zonker(????).

whaaaaaaaaa why why why why

Despite their stupid names, these kind of desserts are delicious, and what’s more, crazy easy and fast.
Perfect when you need a quick fix of warm, cozy dessert. (Which, in my case, is 24/7.)

Chop up seasonal, fresh fruit (it can even be a little underripe. We don’t judge here.) and toss it with some sugar, salt and flour/cornstarch.
No need to measure, just go ~~with your heart~~ by taste.
Top it off with buttery cookie crumbs (I wish my whole life were topped with buttery cookie crumbs) and bake it.
SO EASY GUYS WHY AREN’T WE ALL DOING IT?!

This is the best crisp I have ever tasted. Ever.
I’ve made it a few times, in a few different forms.
The first time, about 3 years ago (is 2011 really 3 years ago?! Have mercy.), I baked it in a big heavy dish, and served it with vanilla ice cream. I was blown away.
In fact, I was so impressed that I then made it into a crumble pie (think dutch apple pie). The pie was good, but, can I be honest, people? It was more work. And the best part was the filling and topping anyways. So I do not advocate the pie version. It’s fussier and not worth it. Keep it simple, stooopid.
And now, I’ve made it into tiny little individual crisps, so you don’t have to think twice about eating four.

For once in my life, I’m not exaggerating. Seriously. Best crisp I have EVER. HAD.
Sweet and juicy from the pears, tart and punchy from the cranberries, and spicy and rich from the buttery gingersnaps.
I’ll never look at plain pear crisps the same way. There’s no going back once you try this combo.
Read: try this combination. For your own sake.

Okay, time for an explanation about these mini crisps/crumbles/whatever you want to call them.

Other than being delicious, they are dead simple.

I didn’t use a recipe. Here’s what I did:

peel, core, and dice a couple d’anjou pears
toss ’em with lemon juice, a couple tablespoons of sugar and flour, and some fresh cranberries
throw a bunch of gingersnaps into my food processor and grind them into crumbs
add a hefty pinch of pepper, ginger, brown sugar, and salt
melt some butter and pour it in until the crumbs get clumpy
dump the fruit into serving vessels, top with ~~a shit ton of~~ gingersnap crumb stuff
bake until bubbling and burbling
eat
eat
eat.

If you want more solidified measurements and directions, check out Deb’s (AWESOME) recipe. Seriously thankyouthankyou Deb for leading me to this delicious flavor combination. Heaven.

January 11, 2014 by Rachel Sally

Keep Calm

“Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk of happy things.”

-Chaim Potok

“Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world.”

-Tien Yiheng

“Strange, how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company.”

-Author Unknown

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“Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
“I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone, “so I can’t take more.”
“You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter: “it’s very easy to take more than nothing.”

-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

There is always time for tea and room for cake.
Or, in this case, both.

Chocolate cakes infused with Earl Grey tea in two manners: dry tea leaves, and hot brewed tea.
The sweet, floral undertones, which have orange and verbena notes, as well as the astringent black tea leaves, contrast well with the deep and rich chocolate cake.
The Italian meringue buttercream is made with honey and golden syrup, resulting in a salty-sweet, silky delight that tastes like the top of a good piece of toast, minus the bread, which is the worst part anyway.

I might actually like cupcakes again.
This recipe only makes 6, which is perfect (I don’t need 24 cupcakes floating around my house, people…), and is a marriage of unexpected flavors which ended up working inexplicably well.

The best recipe for health and happiness:
good books, better tea, and, of course, delicious cupcakes.

Teatime Cupcakes
makes 6
cake portion adapted from Sweetapolita
ingredients:
for the chocolate Earl Grey cakes:
48 grams (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) flour
75 grams (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) sugar
3/8 teaspoon baking soda
3/8 teaspoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon cornstarch
big pinch kosher salt
15 grams (2 tablespoons) cocoa powder
1 tablespoon loose Earl Grey leaves
40 mL (2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons) buttermilk
1 medium egg (if using a large egg, beat it well before adding it, and remove 2 teaspoons of beaten egg)
30 mL (2 tablespoons) hot Earl Grey tea
25 mL (1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons) vegetable oil
splash vanilla extract

for the honey golden syrup IMBC:
111 grams (1/3 cup) honey
111 grams (1/3 cup) golden syrup
scant 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 egg whites
230 grams (1 cup) butter, cut into small pieces and soft but cool

directions:
For the cakes, line 6 muffin tins with cupcake papers.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, cornstarch salt, tea leaves, and cocoa powder together.
Into the dry ingredients, add the buttermilk, egg, hot tea, oil, and vanilla.
Whisk very well to combine. (It will be a very thin batter.)
Fill each cupcake well with 1/4 cup of batter.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until domed and springy to the touch, and a tester comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the honey golden syrup IMBC:
Place the egg whites, along with a pinch of cream of tartar, in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Place the honey, golden syrup, and salt in a small sauce pot over medium heat.
Begin to whisk the eggs.
When the syrup reaches 230 degrees, the eggs should almost be at soft peaks.
When the syrup reaches 240 degrees, the egg whites should have soft peaks that are almost stiff.
Pour the syrup carefully, down into the bowl while the mixer is running.
Beat the meringue until it has cooled to body temperature, then beat in the butter one tablespoon at a time.
Beat until the buttercream has become very fluffy and light.
Frost cupcakes as desired.

P.S.

November 6, 2013January 21, 2016 by Rachel Sally

Pop!

This cake is certainly cheerier than the last to be posted here, though it was made prior to that one.

This cake was for my best friend (haaay I have friends y’all), Alexa.
She is an incredibly picky eater, but she loves popcorn.

Annnnnd it was her birthday (October 24th), so I made cake+popcorn.

(Note: the last 3 posts have been cake on this here blog. Gettin’ real wild.)

Although this post is late (I had Halloweenie matters to attend to, after all), we still had a wonderful time celebrating her birfday.

Happy, happy (belated) birthday, Alexa love, I hope you enjoyed your cake!!

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The cake itself emulates salted, buttery caramel corn.

The base is a simple yellow butter cake, with a soft, tight crumb and pronounced yellow color from egg yolks.

Their companion egg whites are whipped into a flurry with lots of butter and salted caramel to make a salted caramel Italian meringue buttercream. Um, salivating. It is deeeelicious.

Extra salted caramel is gratuitously drizzled over the edge, dripping lazily to pool at the bottom.

The cake is topped with a veritable mountain of salted butter caramel corn, which is crunchy and light and sweet and salty and amaaaazing.

(The recipe I’ve included makes, like, 2 times more popcorn than you really need, because, well. Trust me.)

A boring tech-y update: you can now subscribe by email at the very bottom of the page, where the search bar and tag cloud also reside.
Don’t worry- you won’t get any spam– it’s just an easier way for people to visit the blog for fresh posts, rather than checking back and finding stale crumbs they’ve already read.

Also, many of you have been pinning photos (I love you for it! Seriously!!), and I wanted to let you know that there are two ways to do it: you can click on the pin button on the photos themselves, or click on the pin button at the bottom of each post.

Pin away!

Buttered Caramel Popcorn Cake

for the yellow butter cake:
makes 2 6-inch layers
to make a 2 layer 9-inch cake, double this recipe
adapted from Joy of Baking
ingredients:
150 grams (1 1/2 cups) flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
85 grams (6 tablespoons) butter
132 grams (1/2 cup plus 1 scant 1/4 cup) sugar
3 egg yolks
120 grams (1/2 cup) milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour 2 6×2-inch pans.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Beat the butter and sugar together for 4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the egg yolks; beat for 2 more minutes.
Add in the milk and vanilla and stir gently to combine.
Dump in the dry ingredients all at once and stir gently until the batter comes together.
Pour and scrape the batter into your pans.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.
Allow to cool, then frost.

For the salted caramel Italian meringue buttercream:
makes about 3 cups
adapted from FoodSwoon
ingredients:
3 egg whites
60 grams (1/4 cup) water
225 grams (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) sugar
splash corn syrup (approximately 1 teaspoon)
small pinch salt
350 grams (3 sticks) butter, cut into small chunks
1/2 of a batch of salted caramel, cooled, the rest reserved for drizzling, recipe below

directions:
Place water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a medium, deep-sided pot.
Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment; start to beat them on a medium-low speed.
Begin to heat the syrup; when it reaches 240 degrees F, the egg whites should be at soft peaks.
Slowly stream the syrup into the egg whites with the mixer going.
Beat the meringue until cooled to body temperature, then beat in the butter 2 tablespoons at a time.
Continue to whip until buttercream is silky, then beat in half of the caramel.

for the salted caramel:
adapted from FoodSwoon
ingredients:
100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar
30 grams (2 tablespoons) water
1 tablespoon corn syrup
90 grams (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

directions:
Heat the sugar, water, corn syrup, and salt together, whisking at the beginning until they dissolve.
Stop stirring and allow to caramelize into an amber color, then remove from heat and quickly whisk in butter and cream, being careful of the splattering.
Whisk until completely smooth, then allow to cool before using.

For the salted caramel corn:
adapted from the Kitchn
ingredients:
popped popcorn from about 1 1/2 bags of popcorn
130 grams (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) butter
160 grams (3/4 cup) brown sugar
big pinch kosher salt, plus a little for sprinkling
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silpats.
Place popcorn in a a big bowl, being sure to not include any unpopped kernels.
In a deep sided pot, heat the butter, brown sugar, and salt until they begin to caramelize.
Whisk well to combine, then add in the baking soda and quickly pour over the popcorn.
Toss and mix well to coat, then scrape out onto the baking sheets.
Lightly sprinkle with a touch of salt, then bake for about 30 minutes, or until the caramel is completely dry and crunchy. (Be careful not to burn the caramel; your oven shouldn’t be too hot.)

to assemble:
Stack your cake on a cake stand and frost it with the buttercream; run a warm offset spatula or butter knife over the exterior to smooth it.
Drizzle the remaining caramel on the edges of the cake, then top the cake with a mountain of caramel corn!

October 23, 2013 by Rachel Sally

Giggling

Actually, these were not giggle-inducing cookies to sort out. They were kind of a pain in the ass.

Although very worth the headache.

Lately, all the cookies I’ve been making have been quite annoying.

By all I mean two batches. One of which you see here.

Delicious, yes. In the end, worth it, yes. But testing recipes isn’t always smooth going.
Especially when you make it up as you go.

Sans thermometer, no less!

ALSO, I hate photographing cookies (I’m soooo bad at it someone teach me SOS). My cookie skills (in all realms) clearly need brushing up.

(Good thing I have 6 rolls of slice and bake cookies in the fridge right now…)

These cookies struck me in the middle of a autumnal daydream.

Gooey, spicy pumpkin caramel+buttery, soft, cinnamon cookie pillows?

Good grief.

Somehow, I waited days!!! I had no time. I longed to make these lil guys.
I gathered my ingredients round, assuring them in hushed whispers, “You will be great. Magical, even. Just a little longer now.”

Pumpkin, spices, cream, sugar, butter…

The problem- the caramel was supposed to be stuffed inside the stupid cookies. But it kept heating up and becoming hot molten lava that burbled and puddled out of the cookies.
Delicious puddles.

But ugly puddles. I mean, come on… I can’t very well post a picture of an ENTIRE cookie sheet merged into ONE giant mutant cookie and expect people to be attracted, can I?
Yes. That happened.

So I tried and tried again. It didn’t work. I gave up, rolled the snickerdoodles into little puffy balls, and spread gooey caramel in between them.

As I licked my fingers clean of salty-sweet-spicy caramel after biting into one of these little sandwiches, I regretted nothing.

Stuffed cookies are overrated anyways. Hmph.

Soft Snickerdoodle Sandwiches with Pumpkin Caramel

cookie portion adapted from Joy of Baking

ingredients:
for the cookies:
360 grams (2 3/4 cups) flour
pinch salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
225 grams (16 tablespoons) butter, cut into pieces
300 grams (1 1/2 cups) sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup granulated sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon

for the pumpkin caramel:
110 grams (scant half cup) pumpkin
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
150 grams (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) heavy cream
40 grams (2 tablespoons) butter
225 (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) grams sugar
60 grams (scant 3 tablespoons) corn syrup
45 grams (3 tablespoons) water
7 grams (big, big pinch) salt

directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For the cookies, cream the butter and sugar together for 3 minutes, then scrape the sides of the bowl, add the eggs and vanilla, and beat for 4 more minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk the baking powder, flour, and salt together.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and add in the flour mixture all at once.
Gently stir to combine, just until a dough forms.
Use a 2 teaspoon cookie scoop to make little balls; roll them between your hands and roll in the cinnamon sugar.
Place on a cookie sheet and freeze for 10 minutes.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until slightly spread out and puffed.
Allow all of the cookies to cool completely before filling them.

For the caramel, whisk pumpkin, spices, and heavy cream together.
Microwave for 30 seconds, until warm but not hot, and set aside.
Place the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water into a small, deep pot.
Heat over medium-low heat until the caramel is a deep tan, about 10 minutes, then remove from heat and whisk in butter (careful!).
Once the butter is melted, whisk in the cream mixture (careful).
Heat over low heat, whisking almost constantly, until the temperature reaches 240 degrees F.
Allow to cool completely before touching the caramel or filling the cookies.

To assemble, place a small spoonful of caramel onto one cookie, and place another one on top.
Easy-peasy! Enjoy!

May 7, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

Love’s Light Wings

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

by any name would smell as sweet…”

Romeo and Juliet, Act II Scene II

Yesterday, I ran a marathon.

Which is my excuse for not having a WISE blog post in more than a week.

It’s also my excuse for being late to all my classes today.

Stairs are just a wee bit difficult today.

Here’s a Super Sad True Love Story super short true summary of the super long (26.2 mile) race:

(I break long runs into chunks… I like to pretend that it makes it less mentally exhausting.

It doesn’t. But hey.)

Miles 1-8 are terrifying. In the beginning, I’m stiff and aching and tired, which makes me very nervous for what’s ahead, seeing as I’m huffing and puffing and I’ve only run 2 miles.

Luckily, by mile 6, I’m locked and loaded on cruise control.

At which point, I look at my Garmin and realize,

I have 20 miles to go. Jésus Marià.

Miles 8-13 are spent surreptitiously looking at my fellow runners’ shoes, to see which of them have the bright orange D tags which were only given to marathon runners to record times. I have the sinking realization that there aren’t many runners around me with tags.

Miles 13-20 are my fastest. I spend time listening to “I Don’t Care” by Iconapop. As in, on repeat for about 50 minutes. No shame.

I pick out runners to pass and do so by powering through all of the water stations- I keep the word “slingshot” in my head and will myself not to stop or slow down, and in doing so, spill about 4 brimming cupfuls of bright orange Gatorade down my white shirt. Good looks.

Miles 20-25 are grueling. The stations ran out of power gels around mile 18, and my own supply has also been completely diminished. My glycogen is running on red and I am not a happy camper.

I keep thinking why the hell Pheidippides didn’t take a damn horse.

Seriously, what in god’s name was wrong with him?

25-26.2 are like running another 12 miles. Where was the finish line again?

Why do I still see people running?

Are we done yet?

My intended mile split was a 10:25. I ended up finishing 23 seconds ahead of that, with a 10:02 average mile split. I’m not the fastest, that’s fo’ sho. Honestly I’m just glad to have crossed the finish line!!!

(Turns out, I finished first in my division, female 15-19 year olds. That was a surprise!)

Back to our regularly scheduled program: WISE jabber.

In class today, I had a revelation: in truth, I’ve been doing plenty of “research,” which is basically just utilizing different sources.

What I haven’t been doing is keeping a proper log of said resources- different blogs and cookbooks etc.- which means that I have some serious back work to do. Ahem.

Also, I received my time slot for my presentation!

June 10th from 3-4 PM. More details later.

I chose the name of this post, and the intro, because a) it’s one of Shakespeare’s most classic, and one of my favorite, scenes and b) because the dessert I’m showing to you is a misnomer and should have a different name.

Right? Right.

This dessert is based on a deconstruction of the famous German chocolate cake.

Which, in truth, is not the slightest bit German.

It’s based off of a recipe that appeared in 1957 in a newspaper’s recipe of the day column, which used a type of chocolate that had been developed more than a century earlier, in 1852, by Sam German, a worker in the Baker’s chocolate factory; it was a sweeter dark baking chocolate, which was marketed as Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate.

Thus was the German chocolate cake born, a coconut and pecan and chocolate melange that is not the most attractive, but one of the more delicious.

German cake≠German. Confusing, I know.

(This information is from The Baker Chocolate Company: A Sweet History by Anthony M. Sammarco, googlebook accessed via Wikipedia.)

This dessert has the added benefit of being completely vegan.

I’m thinking of using a version of this for my presentation, because it would be incredibly easy to make gluten-free, thus making it almost entirely allergy-free (it does have coconut and pecan… those are kind of unavoidable) and a good dessert to share with many people who may have various allergies.

I plated it two ways because I couldn’t get a quenelle to smooth out the first go-round and I ended up disliking the chocolate flecks on the first few plates.

(P.S. remember how I was so pumped about my quenelles a few WISE posts back?

Yeah, those darned footballs are coming back to bite me in the butt. It took me a good 5 minutes to get the quenelle you see perfectly smooth. My family keeps recycling the containers I use for my ice cream, so that’s not helping…)

*Note to my father: Can you please, please, please stop recycling the date containers that I diligently wash out and save? You’re making my quenelles ten times more difficult than they need to be. Thank you. Loveyameanit.*

German

chocolate cake

salted caramel

bittersweet ganache

candied pecans

coconut ice cream

Mile 12.5. Eating a gu and feeling güd.

Mile 20. The longest uphill slog of the course; it was gradual, but felt never ending.

Mile 25; back on the streets.

Don’t let the smile fool you; I could barely remain standing long enough to rip off my water belt and iPod in order to take this photo.

“German”

for the cake:

ingredients:

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

4 teaspoons extra dark cocoa powder

rounded 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil, measured then melted

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup water

directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a six inch cake pan with baking spray.

Stir the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together.

Add the coconut oil and vinegar, then the water, and stir it all together, gently.

Once it is just barely homogeneous, pour into the pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cake is springy to the touch and a tester comes out clean.

for the ganache:

ingredients:

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped finely

2 ounces sugar

2 ounces coconut milk, light or full-fat

1 tablespoon coconut oil

pinch kosher salt

directions:

Place the chocolate, oil, and salt in a bowl.

Heat the milk and sugar up together until boiling, then pour over the chocolate.

Allow to sit for 3 minutes, then stir together.

Blend with an immersion blender to emulsify.

for the caramel:

ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

6 tablespoons coconut milk, light or full-fat

1 tablespoon coconut oil

liberal pinch kosher salt

directions:

Heat the sugar up in a heavy saucepan with tall sides until deep amber, about 7 minutes.

Once the sugar reaches the proper color, remove from heat and add the milk and oil.

Mixture will bubble and sizzle violently.

Whisk until smooth, then add in the salt.

If caramel gets a skin before use, just gently heat and stir to return it to proper consistency.

for the candied pecans:

ingredients:

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar

pinch kosher salt

1/4 cup (you could go up to almost 1/2 cup with this amount of glaze; you’ll have extra if you use 1/4 cup) pecan halves

directions:

Toast the pecans lightly in a skillet, about 2 minutes.

In another saucepan, heat the oil, vinegar, sugar, and salt until bubbling.

Remove from heat and stir in pecans.

Pour mixture onto a sheet pan lined with silpat.

Allow to cool until glaze sets.

for the ice cream:

ingredients:

1 can (14 ounces) light coconut milk

1 tablespoon coconut oil

pinch salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

directions:

Bring everything to a boil, whisking constantly.

Transfer to a blender canister and allow to sit for 4 minutes to cool.

Blend, being careful to vent the blender and cover with a towel to protect yourself from hot splashes, until frothy and homogeneous.

Allow to cool to room temperature, then freeze in your ice cream machine.

Store in freezer until use.

to assemble:

toasted coconut

directions:

Plate the caramel sauce and the ganache first; either smear them both across the plate or use a fork’s tines to splatter the chocolate onto the plate.

Arrange cake crumbles on one end of the smears; follow with candied pecans.

Carefully place coconut where desired.

Finish with a scoop or quenelle of coconut ice cream.

March 10, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

I Know Not

알 수 없는

(unknowable)

miso caramel

matcha black sesame shortbread

lychee sorbet

black sesame brittle

This past week, I’ve been hemming and hawing over my WISE project.

We were assigned old journals to read and review, and I received a very strange journal which is not really relatable to my project.

I felt confused as I flipped through the pages; its author and I not only have very different projects, but very different writing styles and ideas of what a WISE journal should consist of.

Cue panicked tailspin.

The first thoughts through my head: Am I doing it wrong?!

What happens if I am?!

Why isn’t mine like that?!

I went and talked to my mentor, Mr. B.

He shut those ideas right down; relax, you’re doing fine, everyone’s different and all projects are different, I’ve seen lots of others, etc. Relax.

Breathe.

So here’s the thing, then: I know my journal is doing fine, and my weekly blog posts are alright, too.

I just can’t get this nagging voice out of my head when I sit down to write:

Are you doing it right?

Do you sound educated?

People will be reading this and judging you, you know.

Are you sure you want to say that?

No, no, no! Start again. Start over. Rewrite that sentence; rewrite that post.

I’m sorry that this post is so long overdue.

By now the dessert has run into the recesses of my mind; it has hidden in the depths.

I don’t know if my WISE project is right or good or whatever.

I can’t know; it is such a part of me that my own critical judgment falls by the wayside.

It is a part unto my whole, and it is thus that I am blinded.

“Freeing oneself from words is liberation.”

-Bodhidharma

I put the other journal away. I’ll read it sometime next week, perhaps next weekend.

For now, I will write.

알 수 없는:

for the miso caramel:
adapted from food52
ingredients:
25 g sugar
10 g water
20 g heavy cream, room temperature or slightly warmer
1 teaspoon shiro miso
directions:
Put the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil.
Allow to cook until the caramel is deep amber; remove from heat and immediately stir in heavy cream, whisking all the while.
Mixture will splatter and bubble and steam; beware.
Once all the cream is incorporated, stir in the miso.
If you want a slightly thinner sauce, you can stir in up to 2 tablespoons more heavy cream.

for the matcha shortbread:
ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons matcha powder
pinch sea salt
5 drops vanilla extract
5 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon milk
black sesame seeds for mixing in, if desired
directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream the butter and sugar together until very fluffy and pale.
Add the matcha, vanilla, and sea salt and mix to combine.
Add in the flour and milk and mix just until homogeneous.
Stir in up to 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds.
Roll out to 1/8- 1/4 of an inch thickness.
Cut small rounds using the back of a pastry tip.
Bake for 5-6 minutes, until fragrant and firm to the touch.
(Larger cookies will take longer; perhaps 7 or so minutes per batch.)

for the lychee sorbet:
ingredients:
1 can lychees in light syrup
directions:
Drain half the syrup, discard.
Purée the fruits and the rest of the syrup, then press through a sieve.
Freeze the resulting juice in an ice cream maker.

for the black sesame brittle:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
directions:
Place the sugar in a small, heavy bottomed pan.
Line a sheet pan with a silpat (cannot use parchment).
Caramelize the sugar until it is amber colored; working quickly, stir in the sesame seeds and spread as thinly and evenly as possible on the silpat.
Take caution, as the caramel is extremely hot.
Allow to cool completely, then break up into organic shapes.

to assemble:
Schmear the miso caramel.
Add a few matcha shortbread cookies, then a few scoops of sorbet.
Finish with the brittle.
Serve immediately.

March 1, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

Lover, Lover

Allow me to officially welcome you into National Peanut Month!

Today, the first, is National Peanut Butter Lovers Day!

(Fun fact: National Peanut Butter Day is January 24th, and National Peanut Lovers Day is March 15th.

Also, National Peanut Butter Lovers Month is November.

There are also peanut -brittle, -cluster, -and Jelly Sandwich, -butter cookie, -festival, -butter fudge, and chocolate-covered peanuts days.

Apparently there are distinctions between them all… Let the PB lovers live their lives.)

My dad loves peanut butter.

I’m talking PB&J every day for lunch for the rest of his life without ever getting tired of it.

Which is pretty much what he does.

The man loves PB&J… Genes that were not passed down to yours truly.

(And he prefers grape jelly… Yuck.)

He might be the greatest peanut butter lover on the planet.

(Although, to be honest, he could give two clucks about national whosamawhatsitpeanutbutter day.)

The only person being threatening his title is my pup, Ginger. (Nyawww mon bébé!)

SHE could eat a scraped out peanut butter jar every ten minutes for the rest of her life and never get tired of it.

Sometimes, when she’s lucky, after my dad makes a peanut butter sandwich, she gets to lick the knife. And even better, once we reach the end of a jar, she gets to lick the inside clean.

Ain’t she dainty?

Anyways, I like peanut butter alright. I mean, it’s fatty, salty, nutty, slightly sweet; it hits me in all the right places and everything, but I just don’t lalalalove it.

However, I will use any excuse to write up an impromptu blog post/bake something stupidly decadent, and thus was born this cheesecake.

Peanut butter, creamy and sweet, buttery, caramelized Ritz crackers, and a deeply bittersweet ganache (with some peanut butter thrown in, for good measure).

There is a wonderfully decadent interplay of flavors going on in my belly here.

It’s kind of like a Reese’s cup, but creamier, chocolatier, crunchier, fresher, and, most importantly, you can have more of it, not two wimpy little nuggets in a orange coat.

Hmph.

Make it for the peanut butter lover in your life.
You will thank me after they sell you their soul.

(A note: follow the general instructions to get perfect cheesecakes every time, no cracks, no splits, no canyons. Not guaranteed, but I pretty much promise kinda mostly.)

So, I had to shoot these photos twice. My camera misfired while importing or something, and none were transferred to my computer, but all were erased from my memory card.

Not a happy camper.

Actually, a really angry camper.

*kicks tent down and walks away*

Peanut Butter Cheesecake

cheesecake, crust, and ganache adapted from Brown Eyed Baker, Milk Bar, and Sky High, respectively

ingredients:

24 ounces cream cheese

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

165 g Ritz Crackers (~1 1/2 sleeves)

150 g sugar (~3/4 cup)

30 g milk powder (~3/8 of a cup=6 tablespoons)

150 g (14 tablespoons) butter, melted

8 ounces chocolate (I used about 7 ounces bittersweet and 1 ounce milk chocolate)

3 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons glucose (or light corn syrup)

1/2 cup half-and-half

directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Crush the Ritz crackers into cornflake-sized bits.

Stir in the milk powder and sugar, then stir in the butter.

Press into a greased 9-inch springform pan wrapped with two layers of aluminum foil to prevent leakage.

Bake for 12 minutes, until fragrant.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. First, put a kettle on to boil.

While beating the cream cheese at medium high speed, slowly add in the sugar. Beat for at least 2 full minutes, until fluffy and completely smooth- no grit.

Scrape the sides of the bowl, then beat in the peanut butter, vanilla, and salt.

Scrape the bowl again, thoroughly, then, while beating at medium low speed, add in the eggs one at a time, beating between eggs.

Pour over the crust, and smooth the top with the back of a spoon.

Place into a roasting pan, then pour the boiling water around it (careful!) until it reaches about 3/4 of an inch of the way up the sides.

Bake for about 1 hour, until the cheesecake is mostly set, but still jiggles in the center.

As soon as it gets out of the oven, run a sharp knife around the edges to unmold them from the pan; this will prevent most cracks.

Now either let it cool to room temperature and then chill, or chill it right away. It’s about 30 degrees out right now, and I just stick my cheesecakes straight out into my sun room.

For the ganache, put the chopped chocolate, peanut butter, and glucose in a bowl, and heat the half-and-half up until simmering.

Pour over the chopped chocolate, and let sit for 2 minutes, undisturbed.

Whisk until the ganache comes together, shiny and smooth.

(Can be made ahead, just reheat gently in the microwave until flowing before use.)

Unmold the cheesecake from the pan, place on a serving plate, and pour the ganache over top. Allow to cool and set before serving.

*[Nerdy] Update on the photos:
Was shooting in RAW mode, not RAW plus jpg like I normally do.
Forgot that Windows Live doesn’t automatically download .CR2 files; instead, for God knows what reason, they were automatically routed to the recycle bin (that’s the misfire part).
Found all photos in said bin.
Kicked myself repeatedly.
Downloaded Canon software.
Spent 30 minutes converting all .CR2 files to jpegs for editing.
Then spent 30 more minutes editing due to noise due to the necessary high ISO used while shooting due to the fact that I decided to shoot at 10:00 pm.

Long story short, I hate .CR2s.
Also, sorry for the grain, especially on that second gif.
Woof.

La Pêche Fraîche

Category: salty sweet

As Promised

Slump, Grunt, Buckle

Keep Calm

Pop!

Giggling

Love’s Light Wings

I Know Not

Lover, Lover