freshly grated nutmeg | smilingfrog.ca

Okay so lots to catch up on!  Last week at baking class, we made these globs of oatmeal chewy goodness…

We split the class up into 3 groups…my group baked oatmeal raisin cookies, group 2 baked chocolate chip, group 3 did peanut butter. I lucked out….oatmeal raisin is my fave! However, I did have to practice a great deal of restraint to avoid eating the dough. Mmmmm oatmeal cookie dough….nomnomnomnom…I’m glad I have this recipe cuz its definitely one of the best oatmeal raisin cookies I’ve had! I’ll try it again at home but scale it down a bit because this made a BOAT LOAD of cookies!!

We also made these shortbread icebox cookies. We actually mixed them the week prior and then sliced and baked them this week.

How pretty!!

So this week we made these…..

Brownies, which I never actually tried, but apparently tasted good. I just wasn’t a huge fan of the recipe….I don’t like using shortening in my baking and would prefer to use vegetable oil or butter. These had a ton of shortening and liquid glucose which was a huge pain to work with. ICK!  Josh said that they tasted “generic” compared to my usual baking…which is good because I try to put a personal touch on my own work.

I did learn however, that the trick to baking the brownies for the exact amount of  time is to roll a sheet of parchment on top of the tray of batter prior to baking. It is easy to tell when they are done when the parchment peels easily off the top!

We also made these sugar cookies which made me think of Christmas….Sorry about the bad lighting….I always forget to take pictures up until the point when everything is packaged up in boxes, then I whip out my camera and end up with box lighting.

Last night we made these almond macaroons as well as some coconut macaroons. The Chef was impressed with my piping skillz and presentation! (Yay me!) The goal is”uniformity and consistency”.

I liked how cute and little these ones were. Perfect bite size!

I’m going to New York for the long weekend! Just a quick trip, leaving Friday after work, coming home Monday night. So excited! I’ve never been before!

I’m a little high maintenance, I have to admit….I like things well, a certain way,  I’m sensitive to well, everything…..but nothing compared to these cookies!!!! Arg! Too humid, overmix, undermix, too cold, etc. and they just go all wrong. I’ve been on a mission to make these macarons actually work out for months. The first 2 batches I threw out (they were too flat) the 3rd bath worked well, but not quite perfect….and then these!!!! I think it was the combination of a few things that came together to produce these sweet little wonders….

1. My new food processor (!!!) The blender just didn’t do the trick for these…

2. Letting the sit on the cookie sheets for a hour before baking them. Note: The second sheet sat for longer than an hour and didn’t turn out quite as well though…

3. My new oven is pretty awesome compared to the old apartment oven

4. I think I’m just getting a feel for working with egg whites and how much to mix them without overmixing or undermixing.

Look at their perfect little “feet”!! 

I believe we’re going to be baking these in class in a couple of weeks so hopefully, now that i’ve had some practice, I will be able to produce some A+ cookies!

This class moves FAST! I like fast…but wow, not only am I learning A LOT but the expectation is to do everything with absolute precision and SPEED! I love it, I just need a lot of practice.

So, week one of pastry class was piping skills practice. We whipped up some royal icing and just played with it, creating shells, shell borders, rosettes, lady fingers, S’s and mounds. Then in week 2, we used the skills that we learned to make cookies piped in all of the different shapes. Like this…

They turned out….not bad….they taste good but spread a bit too much. I know what I’d do differently next time and it was good practice. We also prepped some ice box cookies so that they will be ready for us to slice and bake next week.

Baking in the new kitchen=SO MUCH BETTER than the apartment kitchen! Its bigger, actually has a dishwasher, and the oven is actually accurate! *Gasp* So I’ve been having fun. I’ve been trying a mix of new recipes and old faves, but feel that I need to push myself to actually creating my own recipes. So, the blog may be featuring some very experiemental stuff in the near future but that’s how you learn right? So I start with something easy. I make muffins a lot. They’re pretty easy and forgiving. I have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t….so I give you….

Carrot Muffins With Cinnamon Streusel Topping

Dry Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (I used Robin Hood Nutri-Blend)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Wet ingredients

• 1 1/2 tsp egg replacer
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 1/4 cup shredded carrot, packed
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 3 Tbsp Canola oil

Streusel Topping

• 1 Tbsp cold butter
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1Tbsp oats
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400. Line muffin tin with paper liners 

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Combine water and egg replacer in a small lidded container. Shake shake shake to combine. In a medium bowl combine remaining wet ingredients and stir to combine. For the streusel topping, “squish” everything together with your fingers until crumbly-like.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until combined. Don’t over-stir! (I hear my mother’s voice in my mind when I say this Spoon batter equally into muffin cups. Sprinkle the center of each muffin with streusel topping. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Nibble on streusel topping as soon as they come out of the oven.  Err…..enjoy!!!

I also made this….

Multigrain bread! I was so impressed with how it turned out. 

In other news….I’m taking a professional Baking and Pastry Arts class at George Brown College two nights a week. Its pretty intense and I’m very excited because I’m going to be learning A LOT. I’ll remember to bring my camera to class tomorrow so that I can post updates on everything that I get to learn!  

I’ve been a bad blogger….no updates for a long time…..I’ve been doing this….

I bought a house! And I’ve been picking paint colors, hardwood floor colors, etc. drool. I love this stuff.

Among wedding preparations and house planning I did attempt this!

Creme Brulee! My number one coveted item on my wedding registry is the creme brulee torch. I had to use the broiler on my ancient oven for this, which made the custard slighly overdone (tear). But good nonetheless! They were less than perfect and need to be made again! Hopefully this time in my new oven in my new kitchen!

Creme Brulee

From the Joy of Cooking

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Set oven temperature to 325°F. Heat the cream in a small saucepan, almost to a simmer. Set aside. In a medium bowl, stir the eggs and sugar until just blended. Gradually stir in the cream. Strain thru a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl or large measure with a pouring tip. Stir in vanilla .

2.Pour into four 6-oz or six 4-oz ramekins and place in a water bath. Set the pan in the oven and bake until the custards are set but still slightly quivery in the center when the cups are gently shaken… 30-35 minutes.

3.Remove the custards from the water bath and let cool to room temperature. Cover each tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

4. Shortly before serving, gently blot with a paper towel any liquid that has formed on the surface of the custards. Then sprinkle with sugar and caramelize either using a broiler or if you’re extremely lucky and have one, a kitchen torch! 

I also have a Bailey’s White Chocolate Creme Brulee recipe that I’ve been dying to try!

I recently received a copy of Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson and was super excited to try the butterfly cupcakes. Using the stencil in the book, I melted chocolate wafers, then piped it out into butterfly wing patterns on parchment paper.

Then, before the chocolate hardened (!!) I used a toothpick to swirl the two colors together to look like this…

After letting the chocolate cool and harden, I baked a batch of chocolate cupcakes using this recipe, iced them with chocolate frosting, using this recipe

I set the butterfly wings on top of the cupcakes using a small piece of chocolate under each wing to prop them up. I also piped some frosting between the wings for the butterfly’s body.
Cute!!! I can’t wait to try some of the other ideas from this book!

A few years ago I recieved a cookbook as a Christmas gift from my mom. The title of this cookbook, Grazing, is perfect for me. I like fun food that I can eat with my fingers.  I like to graze.

I love this granola bar recipe. These are packed full of healthy power foods to create a satisfying snack.

Chewy Soft Baked Granola Bars (adapted from Grazing by Julie Van Rosendaal)

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup almond butter (or peanut butter)
• 1/4 cup soy milk (or regular milk)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup oats
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds and/or pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9″ by 13″ pan.

2. Mix together the brown sugar, almond butter, milk, honey, oil and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda and salt.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the almond butter mixture. Stir to combine. Stir in raisins, chocolate chips, seeds and coconut.

4. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 20-23 minutes, until they begin to brown around the edges. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Slice into bars once cool. Can be stores in an airtight container at room temperature.

I had some spare time on the weekend so I did some experiementing in the kitchen with something I’ve never tried before. Layered pastry. I was a bit nervous about how this would turn out, but I have to say, I was quite pleased!

 The only thing I would change next time is the filling. The recipe for the filling that I used called for almond paste. Well, I bought “almond paste” and it was tasty, but not exactly what the recipe intended. It gave the pastry a nice almond flavor and texture, but didn’t hold together as well as I would have liked.

Although time consuming with all of the steps of folding, chilling and proofing, this was a great challenge with an impressive result. Definitely worth the patience and effort.

View photo on Flickr

Looking for a simple but impressive dessert for entertaining? Pick this!! 

Malted Milk Chocolate Tart

(Adapted from The Art and Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet)

For the chocolate tart shell:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 cup flour
• 2 1/2 Tbsp unsweetened Cocoa powder (I used Valharona)

For the ganache filling:

• 10 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 ounces 70 percent dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons malted milk powder (Ovaltine original yellow label, not chocolate flavored)

For the topping

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 Tablespoon malted milk powder
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• Fresh berries (optional)

Make the tart crust:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar at medium speed, scraping down the bowl with a spatula, as needed, until the mixture is smooth. Add egg yolk and continue to beat well.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa. Add to the butter mixture and mix at the lowest speed, just until combined. The dough should be at a consistency that could be shaped into a tart pan at this point. If it is too sticky, cover it and chill it in the fridge for 15 minutes before shaping it into the pan.

3. Scrape the dough into a 9 inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, pressing the dough firmly and evenly throughout the bottom, building extra dough where the bottom meets the sides. Press the excess dough up the sides of the pan. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour or in the freezer for 30 minutes.

4. Bake the tart shell at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Prepare the ganache filling:

1. Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until steam begins to rise and bubbles form at the sides. Remove from heat and whisk in the malt powder. Pour immediately over a bowl filled with the chocolate. Stir to combine, using a rubber spatula, starting to mix from the center until smooth and all of the large pieces of chocolate are melted. Scrape the ganache into the baked crust. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour to set. 

Prepare the topping:

1. Whip the cream with the malt powder and sugar until medium stiff peaks form.  Fill a pastry bag with the cream and pipe onto the top of the tart. Top with fresh berries (optional). Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.