My masterpiece!!

After last weeks disappointing showing, I figured I needed to post about an outstanding success. Granted I made this before I started the blog, but quite frankly, I don't care.

A good friend graduated from the School of Education at Harvard recently and when you drop that kind of cash money on school, you deserve a damn good graduation party when you finish. Enter my BFF Caroline who is the greatest hostess and party planner/thrower of all time.

With her school themed party planned, I set out to make a delish confection for the festivities. I tend to google recipes all the time at work (don't tell the boss man) and I stumbled upon this little gem. It is a dark chocolate cake with a salted caramel filling and a chocolate ganache frosting. And it is a delight!! Ive never made my own caramel before this, so I was a little nervous that I was going to end up with 3rd degree burns or something, but it turned out to be really easy...and it pretty much makes itself. All you have to do is watch it and all of a sudden it turns to this beautiful amber color then you add some cream and boom.....its caramel!!

I made the caramel and the ganache ahead of time and other than the ganache needing to be heated a little bit before I was able to use it, it kept perfectly! Here are some artistic photos of my cake taken by BFF Caroline. I believe this creation was how I earned my newest nickname....THE BAKETRESS.

Recipe follows.

Ingredients

CARAMEL FILLING
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced
1/4 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Large pinch of fine fleur de sel* plus additional for assembly

*A type of sea salt; available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores

** I used regular salt and it turned out just fine!!!

GANACHE FILLING AND FROSTING
1 1/2 pounds bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 cups heavy whipping cream

CAKE
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup hot water
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee
1 1/4 cups almonds, toasted, coarsely chopped

Preparation

CARAMEL FILLING
Stir sugar, 1/4 cup water, and corn syrup in deep medium saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium; cover pan and cook 4 minutes. Uncover; increase heat to high. Boil without stirring until syrup is deep amber, occasionally brushing down pan sides with wet pastry brush, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cream (mixture will bubble). Whisk in butter, then crème fraîche, lemon juice, and pinch of fleur de sel. Cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.

GANACHE FILLING AND FROSTING
Place chocolate in large bowl. Bring cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Pour cream over chocolate; let soften 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate is smooth. Cool, then cover and chill overnight. DO AHEAD Ganache can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled. Bring to room temperature before using.

CAKE
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of each with parchment paper; butter paper and dust pan with flour.
Sift sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. Add milk, eggs, and melted butter. Using electric mixer, beat at low speed until blended. Increase speed and beat 2 minutes. Stir 1 cup hot water and espresso powder in small bowl to dissolve. Add to batter; beat until blended (batter will be thin). Divide batter between pans (about 3 cups each).
Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 32 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 10 minutes. Cut around cakes; turn out onto racks. Peel off parchment and cool completely.
Using long serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Place 1 layer on platter; spread with 1/2 cup room-temperature ganache. Spoon 3/4 cup ganache into pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch plain round tip. Pipe ring of ganache around edge of layer. Spread 1/4 cup room-temperature caramel filling evenly inside ring. Sprinkle caramel with large pinch of fleur de sel, then 1 tablespoon almonds. Top with second cake layer, ganache, ganache ring, caramel filling, fleur de sel, and almonds. Repeat with third cake layer. Top with fourth cake layer, cut side down. Spread remaining ganache over top and sides of cake. Press remaining almonds onto sides. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and chill. Let cake stand at room temperature 1 hour.
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2008/09/chocolate_cake_with_fleur_de_sel_caramel_filling#ixzz0v5R0OjOF

Epic Fail

You see those lovely french chocolate macaroons to the left.....those arent mine. Thats the picture I got from Google and have no resemblance whatsoever to the ones the came out of my oven last night. What happened in my kitchen last night in my first attempt at french chocolate macaroons was an epic fail....EPIC.

I blame my sister for this. I was all set to attempt something a bit more manageable (i.e- less potential for a screw up) when she showed me the William-Sonoma receipe website. And of course these little guys caught my eye, so I put my other project on the back-burner for this.

In my recent quarter-life crisis, a series of fortunate events led me to book a flight to Paris in September with my brother and sister, then meeting Mom and Grandma in Barcelona a few days later. In celebration of that, I thought the macaroons would be an excellent thing to make for the blog. But I was wrong.

French macaroons are WAY different than the coconut version I grew up on. The are light, but crunchy cookies sandwiched between a creamy ganache filling. They can be many different colors or flavors, from the ordinary (chocolate, vanilla, coffee) to the interesting (rosewater, pistachio, etc). Armed with my excitement for going back to Paris in a few months and my new blue Kitchen-Aid mixer (thanks mom), I was ready to attempt this French treat. I really thought I was doing an ok job too. I had to blanch my own almonds because my local grocery store didnt sell them already blanched, but the was no biggie. Just pour boiling water over the almonds and let sit for a minute. Then rinse with cold water and peel off the skin.....easy. I made my ganache and put it in the fridge to cool....no issues there. The cookie batter seemed to be coming along just fine....stiff peaks formed in my egg whites, I thought I was home free. The I tried to put the batter into a bag to pipe onto the cookie sheet and things went downhill- quickly. Instead of being dough-like, I had a chocolatey soup that ran out of my piping bag so fast that I got it all over the kitchen. Once I finally gained some control and got a pan in the oven, I noticed that they were not baking up at all, just hardening. When they came out, they were flat, hard, and stuck to the parchment paper.....not good. Then I tried to put a batch into a muffin pan, thinking I could salvage the mess. Those turned out better, but still not presentable. I ended up with something that resembled a brownie which I frosted with the ganache. They tasted great, but looked like a kindergarten kid made them.

There was a split second when I decided I was going to swear my roommate to secrecy about the whole incident and not blog about it. But then I decided that the blog wasn't about making things perfectly every time, but experimenting, playing, and, at times, screwing up royally. I need to let go of the idea that everything has to be perfect. I'm allowed to screw up...in baking and in life. So below is the recipe I attempted last nite (courtesy of William-Sonoma). You are welcome to try it out and let me know how it goes, but as for me and my house, we will steer clear of french macaroons for a bit!!

Ingredients:

For the macaroons:
1/2 cup blanched whole almonds
1 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
3 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
2 tsp. granulated sugar

For the filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
5 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions:
Position a rack in the middle of an oven and preheat to 400°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.To make the macaroons, in a food processor, combine the almonds with 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar and pulse until finely ground. Add the cocoa powder and the remaining 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar and pulse until well blended.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the egg whites and salt on medium-high speed just until the whites form soft peaks when the beaters are lifted. Add the granulated sugar and beat just until the whites form stiff peaks when the beaters are lifted. Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, gently fold in the almond mixture.

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe out 1-inch-diameter mounds about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, one sheet at a time, until the tops are cracked and appear dry but the macaroons are still slightly soft to the touch, 6 to 8 minutes.

Transfer the cookies, still on the parchment paper, to barely dampened kitchen towels and let cool for 5 minutes. Carefully peel the paper off the macaroons, transfer to wire racks and let cool completely. (The macaroons can be made 1 day in advance and stored in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container.)

To make the filling, in a saucepan over high heat, bring the cream just to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder. Add the chocolate and butter and whisk until smooth. Let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until the filling is firm enough to hold its shape when spread, at least 30 minutes.

If desired, transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe the filling, or spread it with a table knife, generously on the flat side of half of the macaroons. Top with the remaining macaroons, flat side down, pressing together gently to form sandwiches. (The cookies can be stored in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.) Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Adapted from Luscious Chocolate Desserts, by Lori Longbotham (Chronicle Books, 2004).

Cookies anyone?

I need a favor.... Im looking for the greatest chocolate chip cookie receipe. Anyone have one? Dont get me wrong, the receipe on the back of the Toll House chocolate chip package is always a good one, but there's got to be others out there, right? If you have one, let me know and I will bake it up and share it with the world!!
HV

Chocolate Raspberry Tart

Hello All!! So its time for my first official recipe post! Chocolate and raspberry happens to be one of my fave combinations, so I found this recipe on epicurious and decided to give it a try. It turned out to be delicious!! The crust is kinda crunchy like a cookie and is chocolatey and sweet, but adds a nice little crunch in contrast to the creamy filling. Generally, when I bake, I try to incorporate booze, so for this recipe, I added my favorite liquor (Chambord- a sweet raspberry liquor) to the raspberry filling....I highly recommend it!! If you go this route, make sure to add a bit more jam than the recipe calls for to counter the extra liquid.....nobody wants soupy raspberry filling. Anyway, Im still experimenting with how Im going to set up my posts, but for now, the actual recipe is below with my comments/suggestions/experiences added in. I hope you enjoy it much as my coworkers and I did!!!

Hailey

Ingredients

Crust
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons cold water
1 large egg yolk

6 tablespoons raspberry jam

Chocolate Filling
1 cup whipping cream
4 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 1/2-pint baskets fresh raspberries
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Preparation

For Crust:

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa and salt in medium bowl. Add butter and rub in, using fingertips, until mixture resembles coarse meal. add water and egg yolk and mix in with fork until well incorporated. Gather dough into rectangle chill 20 minutes. (Can be prepared 4 days ahead. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

Comments: This is similar to making pie crust from scratch. I mixed the dry ingredients and then cut the butter into tablespoons and then cut those into fourths. When it says "rub in" it means just that....take a chunk of the butter and roll it between your fingertips and it will break into smaller pieces of butter while getting coated with the dry ingredients. Keep doing this until the chunks of butter are about the size of a pea. Generally when you think you are done, keep going. There will inevitably be pieces of butter that you missed that are still quite large. Also, I had to add about 2 teaspoons of water extra to make the dough come together. If you decided that the amount of water in the recipe is not enough for your dough, be sure to add more water in VERY small amounts. It doesnt take much water to make a big difference, so if you add to much, your dough will become way to moist and will be sticky and hard to roll out. The dough should just barely come together into a ball and should show some cracks, which is what you want.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter and flour 13 3/4 x 4-inch rectangular pan with 1-inch-high sides and removable bottom. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper to 15x6-inch rectangle. Peel off 1 waxed paper sheet. Invert dough into prepared pan, press evenly to fit. Freeze until firm, about 10 minutes. Peel off second waxed paper sheet. Trim edges.
Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until crust is set, about 12 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake until crust just begins to darken around edges, piercing with toothpick if crust bubbles, about 12 minutes longer. Remove from oven; maintain oven temperature. Spread jam over bottom of crust. Bake until jam is set, about 3 minutes. Transfer pan to rack; cool completely.

For Filling:

Bring cream to boil in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer chocolate ganache to bowl and refrigerate until chilled but not firm, about 45 minutes or less
Using electric mixer, beat ganache until very thick and semifirm. Spread ganache over jam in crust. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Refrigerate.) Arrange raspberries atop ganache. Stir powdered sugar and cocoa in bowl. Sift over tart.

Comments: You can tell when the ganache is getting to the thickness you want because it will start to hold the wave pattern from the mixer. As for sifting powdered sugar and cocoa onto the top, the moisture from the chocolate and from the refrigeration absorbed all of the sugar I sifted on my tart. If you decide to add this decorative touch, make sure you do it right before presenting/serving.

Hello blogging world

I've recently been going through some MAJOR life decision making. It kinda sucks to be a grown up and have no idea what you want to do with your life. I was recently toying with the idea of going to pastry school and pursuing that as a career, but I have recently decided against it. It was a really rough decision, mainly because I have been in a quarter-life crisis for a while and that was the only way I thought I could pull myself out of it....but I was wrong. I'm still working on figuring out how to make my life more fulfilling, and I'm certainly taking suggestions, but in the meantime, I decided having a blog about my baking "adventures" would have to suffice. I'll be taking recipes from anywhere and everywhere....suggestions, internet, magazines, cookbooks....and trying them out in my kitchen....a regular old apartment kitchen with no fancy gadgets or toys. Just a regular girl making some yummy treats and hopefully not burning the place down. So stay tuned for my first attempts and shoot me suggestions if ya like.