Change of Direction

So once I realized that after a year of trying to purchase the domain name "Craftbake.com" and not succeeding, I needed to consider a name change! OMG a name change? It's rough, I really love Craftbake and the idea of a community of CraftBakers but after thinking long and hard I took the plunge.

The new company name will likely be Acme Baking Company. Acme was the name of the company my parents owned while I was growing up, so it had a real meaning to me. The word acme means pinnacle, seems a good fit for what I am trying to convey.

You can find new blog posts at www.acmebakingcompany.com.

Hope to see you in the kitchen :)

Magnolia Bakery in my very own kitchen

Oscar Sunday was last week and I opted to bake my contribution to the party. I knew I wanted to do cupcakes but what to do what to do!

Enter the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook that has been on my shelves for years and never used. The decision. Lemon Cupcakes and Chocolate cupcakes. I thought I was going to do cream cheese frosting on both but it just didn't taste right on the lemon so I whooped up the lemon with a lemon curd filling (from the book) and a lemon buttercream frosting.

The lemon curd was to die for so that is the recipe I am going to post. To fill cupcakes I used some weird tool in my kitchen that was for juicing lemons. I think there is a tool made specifically for this task so I might have to buy one because the idea of filled cupcakes is a winner in my book.

Lemon Curd
6 egg yolks at room temp
1 1/2 Tbsp grate lemon zest
1/2 c. lemon juice (freshly squeezed of course)
1/4 tsp lemon extract (this really added a nice balance)
3/4 c. sugar
cook all of that for about 20 minutes (stirring constantly) over medium heat. It will get thick and bubbly (you'll think it is thick enough earlier but just keep going for about 20 minutes). Remove from heat and add 1 c. of cold butter cut in small pieces one piece at a time and stir until each piece is incorporated.

Place in a heat proof container and chill until firm (the recipe calls for overnight, but I only had a couple of hours)

I made about a dozen cupcakes and I only needed about half of the mixture to fill them. The rest was consumed on toast, biscuits, pancakes..you name it!

Happy Birthday to you...

Sometimes being able to bake something that impresses people can be the most wonderful thing in the world. Not everyone understands the love that goes into something, that it could easily take 5 hours to make a cake from scratch, that there are skills and challenges in every attempt.

And most importantly, people don't realize that you could put in all this effort and have a massive failure on your hands. I am so glad that wasn't the result this week when I took on the challenge of making a birthday cake for a co-worker.

Let me preface this by saying, I have never made a multi-layer cake and had it turn out pretty. I almost never make layer cakes because of this but I was not going to let the stop me when I found a recipe for a Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake.

OMG! So f'in good!

Are you ready? I think you are. Now there was a tiny little warning at the bottom of the recipe that said "This cake is a lot of work". I would like to go on record and say that was an understatement, but that all of that work was well worth it! The cake was a huge success and when the left overs made their way to the office kitchen they were gobbled up. When I went to collect my carrier there was a note.."This cake was delicious, can I please have the recipe."

That is the best compliment!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake

Prep 3 8 or 9" cake rounds - butter, the put in parchment rounds, butter again and then flour
Preheat oven to 325

3/4 c. cocoa powder
1 1/4 c. hot water
2/3 c. sour cream
Mix together in a bowl until completely blended, then set aside

2 2/3 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Sift together in a bowl and set aside

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
1/2 c. vegetable shortening
Blend together until creamy and smooth using your beater blade (mine never got perfectly smooth)
Add 1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
Cream together
Add 3 large eggs at room temperature one at a time
1 Tbsp vanilla
Mix together until smooth - remember to scrape down the sides to make sure everything get mixed together

Alternate additions of the flour mixture and the cocoa liquid mixture

Divide between the three pans, spread out in the pans then tap the pans a couple of times on the counter to get some bubbles out.

Place in the oven and bake about 30 minutes (until toothpicks come out clean)

While the cakes are baking you have a good amount of work to do.
Salted Caramel Sauce
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. water
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
put in 2 qt sauce pan, stir together without splashing. Then turn the burner on high and just let the mixture come to a boil and boil until it is a light amber color. Remove from heat and let it cool for a minute or so (it will darken)
While you are cooking that mixture - heat up 1/2 c. heavy cream and 1 tsp sea salt (I did this in a double boiler so I didn't have to watch it like a hawk) stir to make sure the salt is dissolving
Once the caramel mixture has cooled for a minute add the warmed heavy cream mixture and 1/4 c. sour cream
Stir and pour into a heat proof container. Let it come to room temp and then cover and refrigerate.

Next!
Another caramel sauce
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. water
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
Stir and then put on high heat - cook until it is a light amber color. Remove from heat and let cool for a minute then add 1 1/2 c. warmed heavy cream

Put 1lb of dark chocolate pieces (chips and chopped chocolate) in a large heat proof bowl. Once you have the caramel sauce cooked and slightly cooled, pour it over the chocolate. Wait a minute or so and then start stirring the mixture so the chocolate melts.

Transfer the chocolate caramel mixture into your mixer bowl and turn the mixture on low to keep it moving. Do this until it is cool to the touch (this took over an hour for me) then add 2 c. of unsalted butter cut into cubes (using your beater blade).

Once the butter is incorporated and smooth, switch to the whisk blade and whip until the frosting is light and fluffy.

Construction of the cake
Put some frosting on the plate or container so the cake won't move around then put 1 cake layer on, top with 1/4 c. of the first caramel sauce and then top that with a round of frosting. Repeat all the way to the top layer.

I put all the frosting in a really large zip lock bag and snipped a big bit of a corner off (I didn't have any pastry bags that were really big so this was my easy cheat). This makes it really easy to frost this cake. I make a nice big swirl on each layer and then smooth over with an offset spatula (knife).

Oh yeah - because I am lazy I decided to melt some dark chocolate and just drizzle it on some parchment paper to make the decorative stuff on the top.

I didn't put the cake in the fridge and it didn't seem to need it (if it was warm outside I might have).

Good Luck and Enjoy!

Who doesn't love a pot pie?

A few months ago a girl that I work with fostered one of my rescue's dogs and unfortunately for both of us, the adorable dog known as Bob's Big Boy decided to eat her house! Literally! He ate through a door, he ate a comforter, he ate and clawed his way through some carpet and then for dessert he ate a pillow.

What does all of that have to do with pot pie? Well she took all the destruction without getting mad at the dog and without getting mad at me, so I offered to make her anything she wanted. At first it was a loaf of pumpkin bread for her brother, which she devoured that day in her office. Then it was a pumpkin cake roll with cream cheese frosting inside. And this last one, the one she has been asking for since day 1...Chicken Pot Pie.

I've never made a chicken pot pie, I only just started making pie crust, but really how hard could it be? It wasn't hard at all and it was so freakin delicious I want another one right now!

I used my mom's crust (the one posted on this blog as my admission of defeat) for the bottom crust and then I used this insane Cream Cheese Crust for the top. It was perfect! The bottom crust was delicious and flaky and the top crust was rich and puffy.

Here are the recipes:
CREAM CHEESE CRUST
1 stick of butter cut into cubes
8oz of cream cheese
1 1/2 c. flour
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp ice water

Put the flour, butter and dollops of cream cheese in a food processor. Pulse until it looks like parmesan cheese. Then add the egg and 1 Tbsp of water, pulse and if it doesn't come together as a ball, add a little more water.

Make a round flat dough disk, wrap in plastic and chill while you make the filling.

Pot Pie Filling
(I took a cheat here)
1 rotisserie chicken - remove skin, take off meat and chop or shred (I prefer costco any day of the week - I think grocery stores let their chickens sit too long and they get mealy)
1 onion chopped
2-3 stalks of celery chopped
1 cup of chopped carrots (I use baby carrots)
1 c. frozen peas
Some sliced mushrooms - not too many, maybe a 1/2 c.

Cook the onion, celery and carrots in 1 tbsp butter and 2 tsp olive oil until tender. Then add the peas and mushrooms - cook until the mushrooms are brown and soft then add in the chicken and leave on low heat)

Make the gravy in a separate sauce pan
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
cook those together until the butter and flour make a paste
then add
2/3 c. warmed milk
1 3/4 c. chicken stock
Salt/Pepper and celery seeds (you really need the celery seeds they add a lot of flavor)
Stir and cook until thick then pour over the chicken mixture

Roll out the bottom pie crust and place in a deep dish pie plate (or individual pie plates)
Fill with mixture and top with cream cheese crust which will be pretty thick when you roll it out, maybe close to a 1/4 inch - but it makes it heavenly if you like a good amount of crust.

Bake at 425 for 30-35 minutes - you might need to throw tinfoil over the top of the crust if it gets too brown

It was so good and worth the effort.

Admitting defeat...the pie crust challenge

The Pie Crust Challenge!

For months I tried out different pie crusts, some all butter, some with frozen butter, some with shortening, some mixed, some using a food processor, some you just pat into the pan. All in all they kind of all turned out the same. Good flavor, nice flake! They all shrunk in the pans, but I think I have learned to cut no closer than 1 inch from the lip of the pan and that has eliminated some of the shrinking. They were all basically equally difficult to roll out and transfer.

So, begrudgingly, I decided to tackle my mom's favorite go-to pie crust recipe. When I was little my parents owned their own company and as a result I spent a good amount of time at the "office." At the office, every day, the radio was on - but there were no tunes coming out of it unless you count the little jingles for the talk radio stations.

I don't remember what time or what day but I do remember regularly listening to this cooking show hosted by Jackie Olden. She was a guru of sorts, she had published a number of cookbooks and would walk through recipes on the air. I am not sure if my mom got the recipe from the radio show first and then bought the book but the below is the never fail pie crust from Jackie Olden's cookbook "Crowd Pleasers" (if you can get your hands on a copy, there are a number of recipe gems to be found between the covers).

This crust has worked for me a number of times since my first attempt and I am finally admitting that for once my mother knew best ;) (okay maybe it's not the first thing she has been right about).

Jackie Olden's

Never-fail Pie Crust

4 c. all purpose flour

1 1/4 c. vegetable shortening

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vinegar

1 egg

1/2 c. water

Cut the shortening into the flour, sugar and salt.

Beat egg, vinegar and water in separate bowl.

Add egg mixture to flour mixture.

Make into 1 large dough ball. Cut dough ball into 4 equal size pieces. Round and flatten each dough ball and then wrap each in plastic wrap.

Chill for at least 15 minutes. Dough can also be frozen - a frozen, flat disk will take about 30 minutes to thaw.

Dust board with flour and roll. (I prefer to use a pastry cloth with flour and my Silpin rolling pin)

Place in pie pan and trim no closer than 1 inch from the outside edge of the pan if you are going to make a crimped edge. Trim right to the edge if you are going to flute the crust edge with a fork.

Makes 4 single crusts

I am the bread baker's apprentice! at least today..

My friend Oscar is leaving for Spain in a few short days. For the past two years I have promised and promised and promised again to bake the man buttermilk biscuits. I have yet to perfect my buttermilk biscuits but maybe when he gets back from Spain I will make him some.

The other day Oscar confessed that there was one thing that would top buttermilk biscuits on his list of wants...Cinnamon Rolls.

I have never made cinnamon rolls but it sounded like the kind of challenge I was up for. Did I know they would take all day? I knew they would take a good amount of time and effort.
Did I know they would be gorgeous and taste like sin itself? No!

The recipe came from the Break Baker's Apprentice - a book by Peter Reinhart. It was a gift from someone many years ago and until today I had not attempted a single recipe, though I have read and re-read dozens.

The recipe made 8 giant cinnamon rolls





Oscar's Cinnamon Rolls
6 1/2 T. granulated sugar
1 t. salt
5 1/2 T. room temp. salted butter
1 large egg (room temp)
1 t. lemon extract
3 1/2 c. all purpose flour (you will likely need a little more to add in)
2 t. instant yeast
1 1/8 to 1 1/4 c. milk (room temp)
6 1/2 T. granulated sugar plus 1 1/2 T. ground cinnamon (for the inside mixture)

Cream sugar, salt, butter on medium speed using paddle attachment. Ass in egg and lemon extract until smooth. Then add flour, yeast and milk. Mix on low until the dough forms a ball (I had to add more flour to even get to a sort of ball, and it was still a little tacky not exactly a ball).
Switch to the dough hook attachment and mix on medium speed for 10 minutes (still adding more flour as necessary - just a tablespoon or so at a time).
Dough should be silk and supple, tacky but not sticky.

Spray a bowl with spray oil. Turn the dough into the bowl and roll around the sides. Cover and let rise for 2 hours in a warm place. (I took this time to turn the oven to 350 and kick out a batch of chocolate chip cookies)

Spray the counter with oil and roll the raised dough onto the counter. Roll out dough with a rolling pin into a rectangle 14" wide by 12" long (about 2/3 inch thick) Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture and roll up. Seem side down cut in half, half again and half one more time (that will give you 8 rolls) you can make them smaller if you want.

Place in a greased 9x13 pan and let rise for another 75 to 90 minutes

Preheat over to 350 (you see, I didn't have to do this, I let the heat from the oven rise the dough and bake my cookies, then it was ready to go when I wanted to pop the rolls into the oven)

Bake 20-30 minutes until golden brown.

Mix together 4 c. powdered sugar with 1/2 c. warm milk and 1 tsp. lemon extract.

Drizzle mixed over semi-cooled rolls (about 10 minutes out of the oven) - it ends up being a ton of glaze but trust me you want it all. Let it sit for a couple of minutes them remove the rolls from the baking pan and place on a cooling rack. Scoop up the rest of the glaze from the pan and redrizzle over the rolls.

Let cool about 20 minutes and then serve.

It is without question a great deal of work but the finished product is so worth it.

(If you are gonna go for a roll you might as well go all out and put butter on the finished product when eating)

Eat up!

Now Oscar can depart to Spain knowing he is loved (having witnessed the work and time these rolls took).

Everyone has one.. here is mine

No picture this time, because to be honest I was in a mad dash to make it happen. Everyone raves about them, they are very delish but they turn out a little different every time. What is the mystery treat? Chocolate Chip Cookies of course! Mine are a slight variation of the Toll House brand cookie but then what recipe isn't a slight variation on this classic concoction?

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 sticks cold butter
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 1/2 c flour
• 6oz chocolate chips (or chopped high quality dark chocolate..my fave)
• you decide if you want to be nutty or not but no more than a half cup chopped (I would pick pecans over walnuts any day)

Put the butter in your kitchen aid and let it blend with the paddle until soft (you can skip this and use soften butter but this does change the texture). Once soft, cream in the sugars. Once combined add the eggs (one at a time) and vanilla.

Sometimes I sift my dry ingredients together but most of the time I don't. I just add the salt and baking soda to the mixture and then add the flour (don't over mix once the flour is in or you will get tough cookies). Then I stir in the chocolate chips.

Almost always yields exactly 3 dozen cookies. I use a cookie scooper that I think is 2 tbsp.

Bake 350 for 11-14 minutes - depending on your oven.

I always line my pans, sometimes with parchment sometimes with aluminum foil. You will find you get a slightly different result from each material. Aluminum tends to let the edges get more crispy and oddly enough can sometimes take longer to cook on.

Enjoy!

A girl on a chocolate mission...

Baking to celebrate seems logical, right? A girl at my office recently was hired permanently after years on the books as a temp. I promised her that in celebration of her hiring I would make her cupcakes. Her request? Chocolate with cream cheese frosting, easy enough! Except, wait, hold up! I don't have a good chocolate cake recipe, could it be?
It could be and it is! I spent my morning combing the web for a good recipe with the perfect balance of easy and tasty. I trust Ina Garten and tried her "chocolate syrup" cupcakes..they were a little disappointing. (Ina's are the short cupcakes, they have an odd texture and a really sticky crown)

I don't know where I found the recipe I ended up using, it was a combination of a few different recipes really. And it's pretty darn tasty (I haven't even frosted them yet), the recipes yields exactly 1 dozen cupcakes.
It is so good it might be my new favorite recipe - plus it's super easy!
Are you ready?

Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla
1 c. sugar
1 t. vinegar
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt

Mix the wet together with a beater and then add the dry ingredients, mix until blended. use cupcake liners and fill about half way. You should get exactly 12.
Bake 350 for 20-25 minutes (mine were done at 20) don't over bake!
These are delicious and not dry at all.

Now all I need to do is frost.. maybe I'll post frosted pictures but you've all seen a frosted cupcake before.

The downside! I started a new diet so while I tasted both cupcakes I need to leave it at that and stay away. Time to clean the kitchen!

Luck O'the Irish?

I'm not Irish, or at least I don't think I am, but this year for St. Patty's I've decided to embark on a new frontier...Baking with Beer! I love beer, I love brown beer, I love dark ales, I love stouts, so why not bake with them?
They won't be frosted until tomorrow but the cake is delish! Very moist with a nice crumb. I am by no means a master cup cake baker, or cake baker for that matter. This batter proved no different. It was easy enough to throw together and it smelled heavenly in the oven. I knew I was going to be pleasantly surprised when I tasted the batter and found it scrumptious.
This is not a chocolaty cake, and I wouldn't really say that it tastes like Guinness, I might try making it again without the cinnamon so that I can get more beer flavor. The plan is to frost with a simple cream cheese frosting (you know the one, 8oz cream cheese, 4tbsp butter, a tsp vanilla, 5 cups or so of powdered sugar..just beat the crap out of it until it is the right consistency).

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
4 eggs
1 cup plain thick yogurt (greek style) or sour cream - they taste different in the batter but its a preference thing
12 oz guinness at room temp (or other dark stout)
4tsp vanilla
1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
12 tbsp melted and cooled butter

Heat oven to 350
Prepare your vessels (I used cupcake liners this time but sometimes I use paper souffle, also called nut, cups) you don't need to butter or flour these but if you want to make a cake with this batter, grease your pan then line with parchment paper and grease the top of the parchment then dust the pan with cocoa powder (since this is a chocolate cake)
Melt butter in the microwave (don't go crazy here..just melt it)
Whisk together the eggs and yogurt (or sour cream), add guinness and vanilla.
Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, soda and cinnamon
Add dry to wet (1/3 at a time) either with a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment
Once all the dry is completely mixed into the wet slowly pour the melted butter in while still blending
I like to use a 1/4 cup scoop (cookie scoop, ice cream scoop whatever you call it, it has a sweeper to get all the batter out) to fill my cups, if I am using souffle cups they get a little more than this but this is the perfect size for cupcakes.
Bake 20-25 minutes - follow your nose, when you smell baked good fairly strongly they are probably done and ready to be checked. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with some crumbs.
Cool on a wire rack and frost as desired.

If you are baking a cake I would say you probably should start with 30 minutes but again, follow your nose!

That was my fun little st. patty's day tribute for the year. I might still bust out some corned beef and cabbage.
It's been a while since I have posted. I had a fun little adventure teaching a co-worker to make spice cake from scratch but blogging wasn't part of the equation. Hopefully life will situate itself so that blogging becomes a little easier.

Eat up!

(update the next night.. frosted little beauties! One day I will learn how to frost and decorate..maybe...it takes more patience than I have)

The last chocolate standing

This weekend was my last hurrah before really hunkering down and focusing on getting my body back under control. The final straw has been this stint with breathlessness. I truly feel like my body is strangling me and I have never felt this way before. Very scary stuff and completely unnecessary. I am young, I am single, I am available to do things to fix this mess that I am.
As mentioned in a previous post, last week was my birthday week and was feted with all kinds of ridiculousness. It was raining and cold out today so I decided to bake a chocolate cake (my biggest weakness and pleasure). I have not have much luck in the past with cakes from scratch but this one turned out fabulously. I used the Swans Cake Flour Easy Chocolate Cake recipe. I nixed the frosting because this whole mess is just going in the trash first thing in the morning anyway.
Absolutely delicious! Now I need to focus on finding people with a penchant for sweet treats so I can bake and get things out of my house.
Everyone at work has decided to focus on their health as well, so that is probably not going to be the winning locale.
After searching the web over I did not find this recipe, so I am posting it here. It was a light cake, very sweet - I would probably lower the brown sugar if I were to make this again. It was a tender cake for sure!


Swans Down Cake Flour Easy Chocolate Cake
1 stick butter
1/2 c. light brown sugar (i told you it's alot)
3/4 c. sugar (i amended the original blog post when I baked this cake again with white sugar instead of all brown sugar..which resulted in a much better cake)
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 ounces melted dark chocolate (cooled)
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 c cake flour
1 c. sour cream
1 c. boiling water

Blend butter until smooth, add brown sugar and then eggs 1 at a time. Mix in vanilla and cooled chocolate. Then add baking soda and salt. Alternately add the cake clour and sour cream beating until smooth.
Add boiling water and stir with a spoon until completely mixed.
Bake 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. I did mine in a 9x13 pan (greased and floured) because I am lazy and just wanted cake. It would easily make 2, 8 or 9 inch rounds.
There was a frosting recipe but as mentioned previously, I did not frost this bad boy (besides, I prefer my chocolate cake with a cream cheese frosting).

ENJOY!

PS. the bowling party was a hit, the hangover the next day could have been skipped but the night was great. Next year will be the big 35 and I need to do something BIG BIG BIG for that one.. any suggestions?

Christmas is over..but the baking has just begun!

Every Christmas I embark on a journey to bake treats, package them attractively, and present them as gifts (mostly to the guys in my world.) This year was no exception, but with the new job afoot I had to limit the offering to 10 items instead of the overwhelming 20 that graced the gift boxes last year.
Timing is never a good thing for me, I start out with the best of intentions, planning to order my packaging supplies well in advance of the holiday season and getting as much dough making done in ahead of time...never happens! I am always the mad scrambler trying to find good packaging at the last minute and spending an entire weekend baking.
This year the hits were:

Swedish Ginger Thins

ADAPTED FROM JOYCE SHINN AND BETTY BOOTHE, POWAY, CALIFORNIA

December 1998

This is one of our favorite takes on ginger cookies; cinnamon and cloves underline their deep spiciness, while a toasted almond on top adds a different kind of crunch.

This is just one of Gourmet’s Favorite Cookies: 1941-2008. Although we’ve retested the recipes, in the interest of authenticity we’ve left them unchanged: The instructions below are still exactly as they were originally printed. Learn how to roll out thin cookie dough—with no mess and no extra flour.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1/2 cup well-chilled heavy cream
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dark corn syrup

· Garnish:

sliced almonds

• Into a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. In a medium bowl with an electric mixer beat cream until it just holds stiff peaks. In another large bowl beat butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy and on low speed beat in corn syrup and whipped cream, beating until cream is just combined. Add flour mixture and beat until combined well. Form dough into a disk. Chill disk, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 2 hours, and up to 2 days.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Cut dough into quarters and work with 1 quarter at a time, keeping remaining dough covered and chilled. Using a rolling pin with cover dusted with flour, roll out dough into a round on a floured pastry cloth, rolling dough as thin as possible (less than 1/8 inch thick and about 14 inches in diameter) and with assorted 2- to 3-inch cutters cut out cookies. Carefully transfer cookies as cut to ungreased baking sheets with a metal spatula, arranging them about 1/2 inch apart, and top each with an almond slice. Reroll scraps and cut out more cookies in same manner.
• Bake cookies in batches in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies puff and then collapse slightly, about 6 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets 1 minute and transfer with metal spatula to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough in same manner. Cookies keep in airtight containers at room temperature 1 week. Makes about 150 cookies.
  

Maraschino Cherry Butter Cookies

It’s not unusual to see holiday cookies topped with a colorful bit of maraschino cherry. But in this crisp, light, very buttery cookie, a goodly quantity of cherries are pureed and incorporated into the dough, which gives the cookies a pink hue and lovely almond flavor.

2 1/4 cups King Arthur’s unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup drained maraschino cherries (20 cherries)
1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups fresh unsalted butter, at cool room temperature (3 sticks)
1 tablespoon maraschino cherry syrup
1 teaspoon almond extract

Icing
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cold water, approximately

luster or fine sanding sugar, optional

1. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Reserve.
2. In a processor fitted with the steel blade, pulse the cherries and sugar until the cherries are pureed.
3. Add the butter, cherry syrup and almond extract. Puree until creamy, under 1 minute.
4. Add the flour mixture and pulse very briefly, just until a dough forms.
5. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and flatten each portion to a 1/2-inch thick disk on a sheet of plastic wrap. Seal the plastic wrap around each portion of the dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. (The sealed dough can be refrigerated for 2-3 days if necessary.)
6. On a lightly floured pastry cloth, using a covered and floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a ?-inch thickness. Use a little flour to keep the dough from sticking if necessary, but try not to work too much additional flour into the dough.
7. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter (or cutter of your choice), cut out the cookies.
8. Coat a baking sheet lightly with vegetable spray. Arrange cookies slightly apart on the cookie sheets.
9. Bake each sheet of cookies at 350° for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway point to ensure even browning. (If you have a convection oven or setting on your regular oven, by all means use it. Your cookies will be more evenly browned.)
10. When the cookies are lightly browned on the edges, remove from the oven, loosen each cookie with a thin spatula and let cool for 3-4 minutes on the pan. Remove cookies from the cookie sheet and place on a wire rack and cool completely.
11. To stencil a design on top of each cookie, first practice your stenciling technique on a sheet of parchment paper. Lay the stencil on the paper, scoop a small amount of icing onto the stencil with a small offset spatula, and with the same spatula, firmly drag the icing across the stencil. Carefully lift the stencil and check your design. If the impression is crisp, your icing is the right consistency. If the impression is blurred, your icing is likely too thin. If your impression is blotchy, your icing is likely too thick. Adjust the consistency of the icing and try again. Don’t begin to stencil the cookies until you have perfected your icing and technique.
12. Sprinkle icing with luster if desired and set cookies on a wire rack to allow the icing to set.
13. When icing is set, store airtight in a cookie tint, in layers separated by wax paper rounds, in a cool, dry place. These cookies improve with age. They keep for 3-4 weeks. Cookies may also be frozen.

Makes 4-5 dozen cookies, depending on size of cookie cutter.

Strawberry Tart Cookies

December 1993

Like tiny strawberry pies with sugar cookie crusts, these are a bite of summer that’s very welcome this time of year.

This is just one of Gourmet’s Favorite Cookies: 1941-2008. Although we’ve retested the recipes, in the interest of authenticity we’ve left them unchanged: The instructions below are still exactly as they were originally printed.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 2 large egg yolks, beaten lightly
• 1 cup strained strawberry jam

a large bowl whisk together the flour, the sugar, and the salt, add the butter, and blend the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in the egg yolks, blend the mixture until it forms a dough, and chill the dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Let the dough soften slightly, roll level teaspoons of it into balls, and arrange the balls about 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Using your thumb, make an indentation in the center of each ball, being careful not to crack the dough around the edges. (If the dough cracks, reroll it and try again.) Fill each indentation with about 1/4 teaspoon of the jam and bake the cookies in batches in the middle of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are pale golden. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, transfer them to racks, and let them cool completely. The cookies may be made 1 month in advance and kept frozen in airtight containers. Makes about 100 cookies.
These were the new editions this year and all were hits. There were a couple misses, namely some god aweful thing that sounded good but was gross "Eggnog Sparkle Cookies" and a delicious but too moist to package persimmon cookie. It was a shame, but they were sent off with the boyfriend to his work (under cloak of anonymity) and left in a break room. All were consumed, so at best they were edible.

Yesterday was my birthday, January 12..it rolls around every year without much warning and generally with a great deal of self promoted fan fare. I got the party started with the Spring Celebration Cake that I made back in June. Much to my delight, it turned out as delicious as remembered and was immensely well received.
The evening was rounded out by a great dinner hosted by friends from work and a few rounds of Guitar Hero.
This Friday will be the finale! Bowling, drinking, karaoke! Shinanigans and no baking.
Well - I just ventured to the kitchen and it appears I have some bananas that need to be converted into banana bread..I have an amazing recipe..that will be the next post!

Pumpkin pie...the gods are punishing me..

I am a single woman and as such am invited to many thanksgiving dinners, family and friends events alike. This year I couldn't be with family so I opted to attend an "orphans" feast hosted by really great friends. Said friends were two guys, who produced a good turkey, but beyond that there was Stove-top stuffing, mashed potatoes that consisted of boiled potatoes and water, store bought pumpkin pie..you get the picture.
So, on Black Friday, rather than being foolish and braving the crowds in stores I stayed put at home. I decided to make a complete Thanksgiving feast in an effort to produce "left overs."
No Thanksgiving can be complete without a good pumpkin pie but I had so much going on I decided to use a frozen pie crust. BIG MISTAKE! While the custard of my pie was absolutely delicious the crust never really cooked so it is still a little mushy and blah. NEVER AGAIN will I cheat. I can make a great pie crust with my eyes closed but I didn't want to deal with another mess. I will redeem myself soon and make another pie with real crust.

I really want some rain..

The baking season is upon most of the country, but not San Diego. It is sunny and warm here every day as of late and that my friends, is not conducive to making me want to heat up the kitchen and turn out tasty treats. This is the time of year I miss my farm in Montana the most..standing in that farm kitchen with an amazing view of the Bitterroot valley baking and baking for days.
I have big plans for Christmas baking and I need to practice/test some new recipes but I am so uninspired. How do you work through a lake of inspiration?
This week is Halloween...I will be baking cookies for a mock "bakery" that is part of my office halloween decor but they will just be basic peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, and snickerdoodles (assuming I can garner up the energy to bust them out and don't cop to buying blah cookies at the store.)
Normally the onset of fall has me making this amazing Pumpkin Applesauce bread, the recipe and pictures will be posted when I get around to baking it.
I think I just want to complain about the weather. I so desperately want a rainy weekend. I want to spend some time at my house alone - no roommate..just some down time.

Feel that Chill????

San Diego may not have seasons like the rest of the country but we do have a distinct change from summer to fall/winter and it has started. A chill in the morning; cool enough at night to start a fire in the old hearth, but absolutely perfect for baking.
It's early October and so begins the testing of holiday cookies. Today's option was a "hermit" cookie - there would be a picture but I thought about it (err, was encouraged to think about it) after the fact. This particular hermit had something of a bread quality to it, very cakey texture with cinnamon, walnuts, raisins, brown sugar and nutmeg. When they first emerged from the oven they looked and tasted a little blah.
Think think think.. I had some 60% cacao bars, some heavy cream and some corn sryup...within minutes I had a fabulous ganache to dip the cookies in, low and behold...DELISH! well not earth shattering but good. They were consumed by the end of the day and now I have an empty tin to fill again.
I have been off blog for a while..updates.. I got the job and have been working for 2 months.. the boy..he is once again off..too many issues there..

I want to bake, I want to bake, I want to bake!!!

But I can't.

I have been looking at all kinds of baking blogs and even joined the Daring Bakers website for monthly challenges. All of it has me itching to bake but I really need to find some boys who are willing to take on the caloric responsibility of my baking so that it comes out of my oven and into their bellies not mine.

The search continues!

Okay this isn't about baking..

But the smell eminating from my oven right now is so delicious I had to share it. I spent a good 20 minutes searching the web for something yummy to do with a pork tenderloin..and finally "stumbled upon" what smells to be a winner.

Take your loin, trim it, wash it, pat it dry.

Take 1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs and brown in 1tbsp of olive oil
Remove from heat and in a bowl mix in 4tbsp horseradish, salt and pepper to taste

In a separate bowl mix 3tbsp spicy (or dijon) mustard and 2tbsp mayo (I used light mayo since the flavor will be pretty much masked by the mustard anyway).

Place your loin(s) on a baking sheet (I put parchment on my baking sheet) slather with the Mayo and Mustard combo. Then cover with breadcrumb mixture.

Put in the oven at 450 for 25 minutes. Let rest before cooking.. it smells really good and I had to write about it.

I am still resisting my urge to bake, although I did scour the web today looking for interesting baking blogs and found a bunch that I really liked. I think you can see them on my blog, so by all means venture out and visit some! Once the store gets off the ground I am going to be hosting an entire site with a community area and a favorite links page so that all of my CraftBake customers can have instant access to other CraftBakers from around the globe!

As for the rest of my night.. I just need to figure out what to serve with this pork..and what wine to drink!

Amish Friendship bread is crap!

I babysat this damn bread for 10 days, mashing the bag, adding ingredients, tending to it like a mama bird waiting for an egg to hatch. The day finally came to bake it off, I was hopeful but certainly not expecting a miracle. Which is a blessing because it was awful! I followed the instructions, sugared the pans, mixed the batter in a glass bowl with a wooden spoon, poured it in the pans and baked it as directed for an hour.
It didn't smell great, it certainly didn't look great, and it tasted horrid! Certainly not the success that my spring celebration carrot cake was. Which by the way it was DELICIOUS!

Friday night..game night..

The ritual of friends gathering on a Friday night to share some laughs, eat some food, and drink some libations is not new. My friends are insane and we play ridiculously competitive and raunchy versions of games like Scattegories, Scene It, and Balderdash to name a few.. there is almost always pizza and beer...and I am the dessert bringer.
This Friday I was asked to bring the dessert and an amazing chinese chicken salad (which I won't go into because this is a bakers type blog). I get so excited when I talk about baking and when I think about getting this store off the ground. It will be incredible the day I open the doors and spread the love!
But, alas, today I just bake. A quick search of the net revealed a "Spring Celebration Carrot Cake"..hmm carrot cake sounded good and the recipe looked delicious. So made it I did! I haven't had the chance to taste it yet, but the frosting is yummy and the cake feels super moist. I can't republish the recipe because it is copywritten but I found it at Foodnetwork.com and have included a picture (I made a round version because I didn't have two square pans, go figure!)..

Confiming my conviction

Last night I attended a Pampered Chef Party, not something I would normally do but it was to raise money for breast cancer and I am all about protecting the future of my boobies. Pampered Chef, just like every other cooking store, tries to cover a little of everything. They have some interesting stone ware baking pieces but other than that I am not impressed by the tools they recommend for bakers and I am not convinced of the quality for the price.
I did buy a couple of pieces and when I get them home I will test them out and let you know how they worked out. But what this party really did was confirm my conviction to open my store. Everyone I talk to "gets it," which has to mean that I am explaining it well and that my passion and love for it translates. I hear the warnings from everyone, the choruses of "you'll work 24/7" and "you won't make any money for years" and the loveliest of them "there is no way to open a mom and pop type store in this economy." I refuse to hear those chants, well maybe I don't refuse to hear them but rather absorb and put in the effort to not let them be my downfall. I don't mind the notion of working 24/7, I grew up in a family business and some of my best memories were working hard all weekend long right next to my parents. I would love that to be the future of my life and my future families.
Today, life is good.
I have an interview, for a company that no longer has a job open for me, on Thursday because the hiring manager was impressed with my resume and with the feedback from the recruiter. And I had a phone interview this past Tuesday that went really well and should be hearing back from them sometime next week. Maybe my future is looking up..remember, getting a job is the sticking point for me getting money to start my store.
Wish me luck!

One last note.. I knew that Pampered Chef and I were not in the same league when they baked a boxed chocolate cake with store bought frosting in the microwave..it was alright but by no means delicious and certainly not something that I would encourage CraftBakers to do...if you need a cake in 8 minutes, go to your local bakery and support a struggling business...

oh the silly heart..

a deleted blog posting..