Homemade bacon maple donuts!

A couple of things

First and most importantly (and most blurry apparently) my mommy got me a Cuisinart 11 cup Food Processor for my birthday. Yay and huzzah! So far we've used it to slice onions and puree soup. I can't wait to use the dough hook function. Plus Julia Childs thought it was perfect for pie crusts.

Also, how have I lived in Mass for over a year and I've never been into Home Goods. It's like a crazy World Market/TJ Maxx hybrid.

They have Sioux City Sarsaparilla!!! I've never had it outside of Iowa. I hope that have it year round. They have all the different pops; Orange Creme, Birch Beer, the weird Berry kind. I was pretty jazzed.

And wtf monin? They had some really random monin syrups, like this and pomegranate. I broke open the seal and it actually smells like chocolate chips. We're gonna have a little in some steamed milk later tonight. I'll let you know how that goes.

Okey Dokey

So I haven't posted in more than a month. And the sad part is, that's mostly due to the fact I didn't have anytime to actually bake/cook for most of October. But I'm back with full force. Let's begin with something simple.

Nigella Lawson's Breakfast Bars (aka the easiest recipe known to man)

14 oz can of condensed milk

2 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup mixed seeds (I used sunflower, flax, and pumpkin)

1 cup unsalted peanuts

Preheat oven to 250F.

On the store warm condensed milk.

Mix all of the other ingredients in a bowl, then pour the condensed milk over it.

Spread on a 9x13 inch baking sheet.

Bake for an hour.

So I'm a bit scatter brained and was still a bit high from my ridiculous purchases at Whole Foods (which we'll be discussing later, don't you worry. Three words: Blood Orange Vinegar) so I completely forgot to add the peanuts even though they were right in front of me. So my bars were a little bit sweeter and stickier than Nigella's, but they were still super delicious. Maybe a bit much for breakfast, but with the added substance they'd be perfect. And they're perfect for playing with different seeds and dried fruits.

Barefoot Blogger post: Beatty's Chocolate Cake

Ummmm...this went a bit awry. Apparently the spray I used to coat my pans was not all that great and I couldn't get either out. So instead of a layer cake I had two round sheets. Which means waaaaaaaay to much frosting. Good thing it was so delicious. 

 

(can you tell we both had tough days?)

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Directions

Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Frosting:

6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

Top Chef

Last season scarred me a little. Seriously, Hosea wins? Really Bravo? Suffice to say I'm still a little bitter. This season seems to have a higher caliber of contestants than they have in the past. And I've actually agreed with all the cuts so far (although I would have sent Matin home after the french food challenge, but mostly because he tried to throw Ashley under the bus). 

So here are my predictions (or mostly what I want to happen):

Top 4 

I'm not gonna lie, I might be biased for Ashley since she reminds me of Rachel Maddow so I swoon whenever she's onscreen. 

And the winner is:

 

I like that he's thoughtful and just the right amount of confident without being cocky. 

Daring Bakers Post: Birthday Sheet Cake!

For the cake:

• 18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 lemon, zested
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• Directions

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

  To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until smooth. Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed. Pour evenly into the pan, smooth the top with a spatula, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan to room temperature.

  For the frosting, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chips are completely melted. Off the heat, add the corn syrup and vanilla and allow the chocolate mixture to cool to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the chocolate mixture and softened butter on medium speed for a few minutes, until it's thickened.

  

  These were good. I love the look of the frosting. They weren't like the most amazing ever. I won't use food coloring on them again. It's too yellow and the color gets washed out.

   
  

  
  

Madeleines

I've been meaning to make treats for Boxcar Dad (Shannon's dad) since he told me he liked my marshmallow cookies. Basically, I'm a pushover. One catch, he lives in Washington and I live in Massachusetts.  I wanted to pick something that would ship well and would stay fresh. I picked Barefoot Contessa's Madeleines!

Ingredients*

• 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter, to grease the pans, plus 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• Confectioners' sugar, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Thoroughly butter and flour the madeleine pans.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed for 3 minutes, or until light yellow and fluffy. Add 1/4 pound of butter and mix. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, and stir into the batter with a rubber spatula. Stir in the coconut.

With a soup spoon, drop the batter into the pans, filling each shell almost full. Bake the madeleines for 10 to 12 minutes, until they spring back when pressed. Tap the madeleines out onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper and allow to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired. 

*I changed the recipe a bit. First off i doubled it. Instead of coconut I put in about a tablespoon of lemon zest. Instead of doubling the vanilla i put in one tsp vanilla and one teaspoon almond extract.  I've done this recipe as Ina intended and it is delicious, I just wanted to play a little bit. 

 

These are delicious and so easy and I'm a little hesitant to package them up and send them off.