Tuesdays with Dorie: Caramel Pots de Creme

I'm happy to announce that these Caramel Pots de Creme may have just convinced me that I can actually make pots de creme at home. After my first experience making pots de creme two months ago, I thought, "eh, I'll just order these at restaurants and make other custard-type desserts at home." I just didn't get pots de creme, or so I thought. It's funny how we expect perfection in one attempt.

Caramel is one of my all-time favorite flavors. So I knew there was a chance that even if I didn't get the texture of these pots de creme right, I would probably still like the flavor. Well, I think I did a prety good job at both. I really enjoyed these. Huge warning: they are super rich. An ideal size for me would be like a shot class.

You can grab the recipe on Peggy the Baker's blog. Also check out the Tuesday with Dorie Leave Your Link post to read about and see the other TWD baker's Caramel Pots de Creme dishes.

Next week: Blueberry Brown Sugar Plain Cake (Already made it....delicate and delicious!)
Last week: Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones
One year ago: White Chocolate Brownies
Two years ago: Chipster-Topped Brownies

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

We're usually off on some sort of fun road trip for the holiday weekend. But this year we decided to keep it lax and hang around home. So far we've slept in, and are currently watching X Men. We've got bike rides, runs, house projects, game nights, BBQs and maybe even a pool party in the works. Not a care in the world and no place to be. I think I'm liking this holiday weekend so far.

Some of our favorite Memorial Day Weekend trips were to Mt. Rushmore and Zion National Park. What are you up to this weekend?

If you feel like doing some good, check out what Shirley J is doing to support U.S. Soldiers. You can help send care packages filled with easy cooking solutions to soldiers who only have access to boiling water.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones

I love to eat scones. You know how it is to enjoy those delicious things that make you feel so dainty, like you're at some fancy tea party? Those are English scones. This week for Tuesdays with Dorie I had the chance to practice my scone-making skills. Albeit, my lack of scone-making skills.

This was my second time making scones from scratch. It was a good experience. Though I don't think I'm the scone master quite yet. I think will take years of practice and batches and batches of scones.

This particular dough was sticky-sticky! It was filled with lots of butter, buttermilk, oatmeal and fresh nutmeg. I also decided to fold some diced up prunes to the mix. I just love prunes.

I wasn't feeling the best when I made these, so my mom came to visit and we enjoyed these scones straight out of the oven. Fit with a healthy (or really, not so healthy) slab of butter on them. They were good. And it's so nice to bake for my mom, since she's been baking for me my whole life.

These were easy and pretty quick. They didn't blow me out of the water, but I enjoyed them. I think with scones I like to eat them more than make them.

Grab the recipe from Patricia's blog, Life with a Whisk. And see how my fellow Tuesdays with Dorie Baker's liked this oatmeal nutmeg scone recipe, here.

Next week: Caramel Pots de Creme

Adam's Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are a few things certain on Sundays. One, we go to church. Two, we take a long nap. Three, Adam gets the cookie bug. Without fail, every Sunday evening the man proclaims he's going to make him some cookies. It doesn't matter if I have made or am making another dessert. The man wants cookies. And even though there are just two of us in the house and we end up giving away (I should call it sharing) three-quarters of all our desserts...I love it. I love that my man bakes himself a darn good cookie.

 

He has his handful of favorite cookie recipes. One from a neighbor growing up, a few from the BAKED NYC and Dorie's BFMYTY cookbooks and others I'm not sure of their origins. He'll make them as is or every once in a while adapt them to his liking. He's also always up for trying a new cookie recipe to mix things up. All always turn out great.

Adam was inspired to make mini chocolate chip cookies after reading my latest issue of Food Network Magazine (May 2011). This issue had a fun article titled "100 Greatest Cooking Tips of All Time." Tip #2 by Jim Lahey of Co. and Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City gave this advice:

"The smaller the item, the higher the baking temperature. For example, I bake mini chocolate chip-toffee cookies at 500* for only four minutes. Perfect end result."

Does that statement blow your mind like it did ours? I mean yes, it's believable. But doesn't it just sound awesome! Five-hundred-freaking-degrees! And for only four minutes. Sign us up! Adam couldn't get it out of his mind. Well, until he made these, that is.

So behold. My sweet husband's first recorded original cookie recipe. I must note these adorable 1 1/2 - 2 inch cookies are delicious. Adam is a sucker for the pb and chocolate combo so he rolled with adding in peanut butter to his creation. Make sure you watch your cookies cause these suckas bake up quickly and you must avoid browning, or rather burning, the tops.

Adam's Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl, and set aside.
3. Mix butter and sugars together in a large stand-up mixer for 2-3 minutes on medium speed.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat each egg for one minute after adding. Mixture should now be light and airy.
5. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Mix at medium speed until peanut butter is fully incorporated.
6. Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients, one half at a time. After adding the first half, mix on lowest speed until flour is incorporated. Then increase speed until flour disappears. Repeat with the second half of the flour mixture.
7. Remove bowl from standing mixer. Add chocolate chips and mix them in by hand using rubber spatula.
8. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, drop small balls of dough (about 1 1/2-2 teaspoons worth) in rows about 1 1/2 inches apart.
9. Bake cookies on middle rack for about 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Watch carefully to make sure top of cookies don't burn. Transfer cookies to wire rack to let cool. Cookies will be slightly gooey in the center. Allow cookie sheet to cool completely before starting another batch.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Maple-Cornmeal Drop Biscuits

Not a ton to say about these easy-to-make drop biscuits. They were just as Dorie promised: cornmealy and not-too-sweet. I enjoyed them, though I think they could have pulled out a little more maple flavor.

We had ours with some local honey and a dang good raspberry jam.

Snag the recipe from Lindsay's blog, A Little Something. And check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie baker's posts to see how their maple-cornmeal drop biscuits turned out.

Next week: Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones

Tuesdays with Dorie: Brown Sugar Bundt Cake

 

Good things come to those who wait... Such is the case with this Brown Sugar Bundt Cake I made for Tuesdays with Dorie this week. I've always been a brown sugar girl. Something about that soft, molassesy sugar does it for me. Dorie has a stellar record for her bundt cake in her cookbooks so I knew this was going to rock, then when I saw that it included pears and prunes, boy-oh-boy was I ever ready to bust out that bundt pan.

 

I opted to use the suggested ground nuts in the recipe as part of the flour concoction. In my case, I chose pecans. I was making this recipe to bring to my parents house and my mom prefers them over walnuts...plus I had a bunch of pecans on hand, so it worked out nicely. 

The ground nuts in the cake coupled with the pure almond extract added an extra level of flavor. One that could be found at the beginning and end of your bite. I loved it.

 

There are two things I really adore about bundt cakes. One: their moistness and two: the crust that is created from the nice n' long bake time. I let this cake sit, wrapped-well over night to let the flavors enhance. Holy cow, it was moist and amazing.

 

And just as I expected, the pears and prunes added jsut the right toothsome touch to complete this fantastic recipe. My parents, husband and sister loved this cake. I did too and I would and will make it again!

Snag the recipe off of Peggy's blog, Pantry Revisited for the recipe. And check out my fellow baker's blog from the TWD LYL blog post.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Basic Marble Loaf Cake

Hi, my name is Becky and I basically chose not to marble this basic marble loaf cake.
Why? I have no clue.

It all started out when I decided to go against my gut feeling and turn this loaf into its peppermint version with white chocolate.  I knew I only enjoyed those flavors on occasion and I pretty much new that  that Sunday night was not one of those moments.

But I did it anyway. It was Dorie's favorite version and I had previously fallen in-low with bittersweet, white chocolate-peppermint combos like the Peppermint Bark Brownies.

I'm not sure what I are expecting to come from this post, and really my thoughts on my execution of this recipe.

Regret?
Maybe.
Distaste?
Possibly.

Contentment?
Yes.

I thought this was pretty good. The peppermint pulled out more than white chocolate, but that is okay. In Dorie's notes, she suggested to lightly marble some varieties so their flavors wouldn't meld too much. I took that advice a little to far. I've got a 1/2 and 1/2 cake, rather than a marbled one.

 

Get the recipe here on Carol's blog, The Bake More. Also head to the LYL post on TWD to see how others marbled their loaf cake.