Utah Raspberries are in Season

Just a pix of my breakfast the other morning.
Kashi Go Lean Crunch, Winder Dairy Skim Milk and Raspberries (from the in-laws).

Yum...
I love when Utah raspberries are in season.

Sprinkles Spice Cupcake Mix now at Williams-Sonoma

Sprinkles Spice Cupcake mix is now available at Williams-Sonoma.

I bought it yesterday. I'll let you know how I like it!

So far I've tried their vanilla, dark chocolate and red velvet mixes. I've been pleased.

You decide my birthday cupcake!

I'm not shy when telling people my birthday is coming up! The glorious day is September 4 and I am very excited. I love birthdays and I love mine.

September is a wonderful month to be born. Here are a few reasons:

* it rings in fall

* my birth stone is a Sapphire and i LOVE blue

* i always got double the amount of school clothes growing up because my bday was so close to the new academic year

* september rings in another year of my glorious and happy life on earth!

Since cupcakes are my thang now. I'm obviously going to have cupcakes for my "birthday cake." I thought I'd make things a little more interesting and let you all decide which cupcakes I'll have on my special day!

You'll notice there is a poll on top of the right hand column on this blog. please vote for one of the following options. (left to right) All are cupcakes found in Utah that I have declared favorites.

1. Neapolitan by Cupcake Chic - layered chocolate & vanilla cake topped with strawberry buttercream frosting made with fresh strawberries. i would be embarrassed to tell you how often i purchase the cupcake. i crave it--end. of. story.

2. Chocolate Vanilla by Cakewalk Baking Company - deliciously rich and moist chocolate cake topped with vanilla frosting. never too sweet or guilty. vegan friendly. I don't have a good picture of this because I ate it (them ;) the second i got into my car!

3. Black n White by Mini's Cupcakes - Dark Belgium Chocolate Cupcake with Creamy Vanilla butter crème. This recently passed up Mini's "The Diva" cupcake as my top recommendation.

4. Chocolate with Caramel by The Chocolate - the perfect balance of decadent chocolate cake with a salted caramel frosting. this won my heart at the summer social retreat last month. ...i had been dying to try it for months!

5. So Cozy Cinnamon & Sugar by So Cupcake - nothing tastes like comfort compared to this cupcake. it's a light and delicately aromatic cinnamon cupcake with delectable cinnamon and sugar frosting topped with a baby teddy graham that reminds me of my childhood.

6. Dulce de Leche by The Sweet Tooth Fairy - this light morning cake-like cupcake fills your senses with cinnamon and cream. it's sweet yes, but it should be. i first tried this cupcake on cinco de mayo i believe the exact words that came pouring out of my mouth were, “Holy freak of nature…you have got to be kidding me…this is so good!”

Ideally I'd love to have all of these at my birthday festivus but I'm not so sure I want to make the hubs run around Salt Lake and Utah Valley gathering them all day. Who knows though, right? Anything is possible on your birthday! (I've been a good girl!)

Have fun voting and check out all these fabulous cupcake businesses sites and blogs. I've had a ball discovering the Utah Cupcake Scene and you will too!

Click on over to my Utah Loves Cupcakes blog to read the latest.

Wasa Crackers & Natural Peanut Butter

I'm currently enjoying a delightful afternoon snack 

consisting of Wasa crackers and natural peanut butter.

I'm trying out lots of recipes and snack ideas from Jillian Michaels' book: Making the Cut. This is one of them.

Wasa Crackers and Natural Peanut Butter

What you need:

2 Wasa Crackers

1 TB Natural Peanut Butter

How to make it:

Spread peanut butter on Wasa crackers and enjoy!

Simple, healthy and delicious!

Tuesdays with Dorie - Applesauce Spice Bars

So I totally forgot to post before I left on vacation to NYC and Philly. Oopsie. So yes, I did make them on time.



I almost didn't make the Applesauce Spice Bars chosen by Karen at Something Sweet by Karen. At first glance they didn't seem so special. But after reading through the recipe a week or so later I was convinced by Dorie's "stories" (I call them) that I should make it. And I had some apples on hand.

The recipe is in the blondies and brownies section of Baking From My Home to Yours and it is seriously more like a thinner cake. Whatever you choose to call it--it was great! Though I would have double the glaze that goes on top, maybe even trippled it. It barely covered 1/2 of my finished product. See what I mean, here.

Make sure to check out Karen's blog and the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll to see the other Applesauce Spice Bars. And check out this Tuesday's recipe, Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie on the Tender Crumb blog by Linda.

The Best Show on Television

I just spent the last hour surfing the Biggest Loser site.
You must check out the videos and bios.
Inspiring.

I am absolutely ready for September 15.

CupShakes

Head on over to my other blog, Utah Loves Cupcakes, to learn about CupShakes!




You won't be sorry! I think we should all try this at home, ey?

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

My dear friends.

I just returned from a fabulous trip to New York City and Philadelphia. I enjoyed fabulous time with my husband, his family, great food, Broadway shows, Central Park, lots of walking, Independence Hall, the Rocky Statue, The Liberty Bell and um...these freaking amazing cookies!

They are possibly THE BEST chocolate chip cookies I have ever experienced/consmed/devoured/ate in MY ENTIRE LIFE!

They were so good in fact that I would say the memory of them outweighs the impact of the delicious and incredible cupcakes I tried on the SAME TRIP. Crazy, right!

Going into this trip, I had never even heard of Levain Bakery or their signature Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie. But our second night we happened to catch an episode of Bobby Flay'sThrowdown where he challenged the owners/bakers of Levain .

No joke, the very next morning Adam and I headed out the door and we made sure that we would only return if we had tried that Levain Bakery cookie. Well, we did.

This thing was everything I had imagined and more.

*ginormous - measuring 6 ounces
*crispy - on the outside
* chewy and ooey-gooey on the inside
* perfectly sweet and not too sweet
* amazingly chocolaty
* melt-in-your-mouth good!
* had amazing balance
* delicious walnuts

and last but not least

...THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE I've had in my ENTIRE LIFE!

No JOKE.

I seriously wasn't expecting it to be so good. I didn't think I would eat the whole thing...but I did.

I will forever have a memory of this delicious treat. Eating all 6 ounces of it, laying on my back at a beautiful and shady part of Strawberry Fields in Central Park. Thank you Levain Bakery. Thank you New York City.

(Seriously, this cookie effected both my hub and I that he is now on a new quest to figure out this how to make this cookie at home. He is actually mixing up a batch as I type! :) You should also google Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie recipe or search it in the blogosphere because it is a hot topic!)

(This is only one of the many culinary adventures I had last week! I'm dying to share!)

Utah Necklace by Maya Brenner

Um... I really want this necklace in gold.
It would make this Utah girl (pointing to me) VERY HAPPY!

...My bday is coming up :).

Garden Goodness

If you haven't already, check out my flickr album dedicated to this summer's garden!

Millions of Peaches

Aren't these peaches lovely? They are from my in-law's garden. We've got loads of them. I want to make some peach ice cream, cobbler, tarts and this cake by dorie. Most off all I just like to eat them all by themselves.

You wouldn't believe how juicy they are!

Oh and I can't wait to slice and freeze them for shakes.

Garden Vegetables

As of late,
I've been tending my in-law's garden.

I could get lost in it for hours.
It's my new friend.

these colorful veggies are a few of my latest picks.

i've made the most delicious egg dishes, tomato sandwiches, salads and much more!

I can't wait to show you the rest of the garden!

Tuesdays with Dorie - Brownie Buttons

For a chick that is all about cupcakes, I sure am a brownie fan these days.

I'll tell ya why.

Apparently, I love chocolate more than I'll ever admit.

I ALWAYS have the ingredients on hand for brownies.

AND you get to mix the batter by hand.

I decided to use lemon instead of orange for the zest, because I already had it in my kitchen.

I really liked this recipe. It was quick and easy and in little mini cupcake molds. I used my mini silicups. The neat thing about this recipe is that reminded me of the very first recipe I made for Tuesdays with Dorie: the Black and White Banana Loaf. Which happens to be almost exactly a year ago! Crazy, right!

You can find the recipe on Jayma's blog: Two Scientists Experimenting in the Kitchen. Also, check out the TWD baker's because there are some cook variations out there!

BAKED: Millionaires Shortbread

I love my BAKED: New Frontiers in Baking Cookbook. I received it from my sis-in-law this last Christmas and I can't get enough of it.

I just wish I baked out of it more often. So far my husband and I have tried the Black Forest Chocolate Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate, German Chocolate Cake (okay, Adam made all the cookies..I have yet to blog about them.) and the latest recipe I made: Millionaire's Shortbread.

I've had my eye on this recipe for a very long time! In the description Matt and Renato describe it like this: "Deceptively simple, it consists of one layer of very good shortbread, one layer of thick caramel, and one layer of chocolate. Though all three elements are delicious in their own right, the beauty of this confection is that the whole truly ends up being greater than the sum of its parts."

Doesn't that make you want to make it? Plus, all over the blogosphere I had heard other bakers say it was like a homemade Twix.

My thoughts: I love this. I really enjoyed making the shortbread and thought it was delicate, soft, good on it's own, but a perfect base for this treat. I was excited to try making the caramel out of sweetened condensed milk. They give you two ways to try it. I tried the stovetop method, cause I had a lot of time. It turned out good, but I honestly think it could have cooked longer or on a higher heat. I'll use the microwave method next time.

The ganache is incredibly rich...and almost overpowering because the other two elements are so mild. But it works. I'd make it again, but I'd make sure I was watching a long movie because it takes forever!

Here's the recipe. Try it! And buy this cookbook! It is wonderful!

Millionaire's Shortbread
from BAKED: New Frontiers in Baking


Shortbread:
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 /12 cups all-purpose flour
1 large egg yolk, slightly beaten

Caramel filling:
28 ounces sweetened condensed milk (two 14-ounce cans)

Chocolate glaze:
6 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao), coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes

For the shortbread:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and butter together until blended.
3. Add 2 cups of the flour and beat until well combined. Add the egg yolk and beat for a few seconds, or until just combined.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Dust the top of the dough and your hands with a little flour. Use your hands to gently work the dough into a 6-by-6-inch square. You will have to turn the dough and sprinkle the top with flour as you go. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup flour on the surface of the dough. Fold the dough over and knead until incorporated, then flatten the dough into a rectangle. Transfer the rectangle to the prepared pan and press it into the pan.
5. Prick the dough all over with a fork and bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 22 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

For the caramel filling:
Stovetop method:
Put the sweetened condensed milk in a medium heat-proof bowl and set it over a saucepan of boiling water over low heat. Cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until thick and caramel colored. Remove the bowl from the pan and beat until smooth.

Microwave oven method:
1. Put the sweetened condensed milk in a large microwave-safe bowl. Cook on 50 percent power (medium) for 4 minutes, stirring briskly halfway through, until smooth.
2. Cook on 30 percent power (medium-low) for 12 to 18 minutes, until very thick and caramel colored, stirring briskly every 2 minutes, until smooth.
3. Pour the caramel filling over the cooled shortbread and place the pan in the refrigerator until cool, about two hours.

For the chocolate glaze:
1. In a large nonreactive metal bowl, combine the chocolate, corn syrup, and butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is completely smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir for 30 seconds to cool slightly. Pour the mixture over the chilled caramel layer and use an offset spatula to spread it into an even layer.
2. Put in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until the glaze hardens.
3. Remove the pan from the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving so as not to crack the chocolate glaze. Cut into squares and serve.
4. The bars can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 4 days.

I hope to make the Sweet and Salty Cake next...