Baked Alaska, penuche and cat treats

It's a little surprising how peaceful the lake can be even during the winter. Last weekend I went to my dad's place out at a lake about two hours from where I live. Despite it being pretty chilly (and we certainly stayed away from the water), the air was clear and the water beautiful. 

I got some reading done, I enlisted my dad to help me with some baking (which I'll share with you next week), I cooked kebabs for lunch one day, and generally hung out with my dad and stepmom. Also, it was an excellent place to watch the second episode of Sherlock, which was scary enough in broad daylight! If you haven't watched this show yet, go find the first season on Netflix. Excellent British television, and each episode is a like a mini movie.

Baked Alaska is one of those things that's always seemed a little weird and intriguing to me. After all, you're baking ice cream, and that's not totally normal. So on a recent trip to Aunt Betty's, we made it.

Courtesy of Joy of Cooking, we made the chocolate genoise cake bottom, molded the cookies and cream fro-yo and piped on the meringue, which insulates the ice cream so it doesn't melt like you think it would. And actually, as far as desserts go, it's not that terrible for you. I think next time, though, I'll make it for a dinner party or something. Definitely a dessert for many.

Back when I visited Keane in Salt Lake City, we went to a chocolate and candy shop where I met my new favorite candy: penuche. Basically, it's brown sugar fudge. I was definitely one of those kids who tried to sneak tastes of brown sugar when my mom made cookies when I was little. So having a brown sugar-flavored fudge is like heaven. This is also a Joy of Cooking recipe that includes pecans mixed in. And I will definitely make it again.

Aunt Betty suggested we try making cat treats because, you know, we're cat people. Well, animal people. Anyway, this is Archie, her black kitty, investigating the treats. We made tuna treats and modified the recipe a bit so it wasn't too runny and would actually form treats. Basically, they're tuna-flavored patties that you bake to dry them out. Honestly, they weren't much of a hit with both Archie and my cat, Melvin. Oh well. Worth a shot!

Daring Bakers' challenge: Filipino dessert Sans Rival

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

Now, I wasn't quite daring enough to try the second recipe, Bibingka, which included things like salted eggs and glutinous rice flour. Not quite up my alley. But sans rival? Which apparently means "without rival?" Oh yeah. That's definitely true.

It's no secret that I love me some meringue. This is like a giant meringue cake that Aunt Betty and I made. We piped giant meringue discs, then layered them with French buttercream and layers of cashews. Seriously, it's as good as it sounds. The meringue melts into the buttercream and it's one of the tastiest desserts I've ever had. I am 100% making this again. Possibly very, very soon.

I don't often repost these recipes, but I'm definitely sharing this one, with the modifications we made (which are quite a few).

Sans Rival (12 servings)

Ingredients:

Meringues
10 large egg whites, room temperature
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 cups chopped, toasted cashews

French buttercream
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1½ teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
1. For meringues: Preheat oven to moderate 325°F.
2. Trace bottom of cake pan on parchment paper to get four circles. Lay parchment on flat baking sheets (will likely take at least two sheets).
3. In a large clean, dry glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy. Sprinkle with cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, continuing to beat now at high speed until stiff shiny peaks form.
4. Move meringue to piping bag with large open tip. Pipe meringue into the circles until completely used.
5. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, checking after 30 minutes. (At this point, we actually shut off the oven and left the door closed, letting the meringues dry out. Your meringues should be as dry as possible without breaking.) Peel off parchment paper before completely cooling.
6. For French buttercream: Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Beat at high speed until the yolks have doubled in volume and are a lemon yellow.
7. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan and cook over medium heat, stirring the sides down only until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup reaches 235° F.
8. With the mixer on high, very slowly pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl, until all has been added. Be careful as the very hot syrup could burn you if it splashes from the beaters. Continue beating on high until the mixture is room temperature, about 15 mins.
9. Still on high, beat in the soft, room temperature butter a tablespoon at a time. Add flavoring after you beat in the butter. Refrigerate the buttercream for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.
10. Assembly: Set bottom meringue on cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a thin layer of buttercream, then spread a layer of the crushed cashews. Then place another meringue on top. Repeat with a thin layer of buttercream, cashews, meringue, thin layer of buttercream, cashews, meringue, and finally buttercream the top and cover with a layer of cashews.

To Michigan and Mom: Chocolate cream pie, chocolate meringue kisses and raspberry lemonade cupcakes

I swear, I'm bad luck on a plane. Or more like, in the terminal waiting for a plane. I went to Michigan to visit Mom this weekend...and ended up being in Wisconsin overnight with a hotel voucher that didn't work. A fan was broken in my plane from KC, and I'm pretty sure more than half our plane missed their connections. If I'd stayed in KC and flown out the next morning, I would have left the airport at 5:45 a.m. I don't know if this is well-known (it is to all my friends), but that time only exists to me if I'm still up from the night before. So Milwaukee it was. To their credit, Frontier was very, very helpful. The woman helping us, Cat, was incredibly chill. Go Cat! Anyway, around 11, I got to the hotel and spent the evening at the bar with my fellow travelers.

This is Lacey. She greeted me when I finally got to Grand Rapids. So did my childhood cat Ziggy and Mom's newer cat, Salem. During the weekend, we went shopping to my favorite food specialty stores up there, went to New Holland Brewpub and had a taster flight of beer (Ichabod Pumpkin Ale was my favorite!) and went to my favorite restaurant there, Graydon's Crossing, which is a combo of colonial English and Indian food and one massive beer list. All in all, a fun trip.

A few fun facts about my mom: she loves chocolate, she sucks at technology and she isn't a baker. So when I visit, she likes me to bake so she can have some and share some with her friends too. First on the list was chocolate cream pie, which I'd made once before at Aunt Betty's. It's from Martha Stewart's new Pies and Tarts book, and it actually holds its shape really well, courtesy of a lot of cornstarch and gelatin. Oh, and it's got lots of chocolate.

Then, naturally, I had some leftover egg whites, so I had to use them, right? In come the chocolate meringue kisses. I've never made chocolate ones before, but I have done some other flavored ones. These honestly tasted like hot chocolate to me, and they were divine. And more chocolate for mom.

And I didn't want to do just chocolate and of course had to make cupcakes, so I did raspberry lemonade ones. It's starting to get fall-like outside, so I'm trying to get in my last summery desserts. This is a lemon cupcake soaked with a raspberry lemonade syrup with raspberry lemonade icing. On top I put a fresh raspberry and a candied lemon peel. Apparently Mom's coworkers liked them.

It was a nice weekend, although cut short because of the darn airplane. Well, here's to hoping my next trip goes better. I'm officially less than a month from visiting Keane in Salt Lake City. Woo hoo!

(Posting to Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday.)

Happy birthday Julia! Chocolate almond cake, orange cream meringues and Hefeweizen cupcakes

So Tuesday was a big day for me. I'm not one to talk too much about personal stuff online; I like to separate that stuff from the Internet. But I just hit a year of being single, and I have to say, I never thought it would happen. Neither did anyone in my family or friends, you can ask! See, I've been a serial long-term dater, and dated two different guys over a six-year period before this. But this year has been the greatest yet. I've put a lot more into this blog. I've spent more time with family. I've moved. I've started a new job, a wonderful job. I've decorated my apartment. And, as Cathie said, I've spent a lot of time discovering who I am. Cliched, maybe, but true. Here's to seeing what the next year brings!

Speaking of special days, Monday was a special day too. It was Julia Child's birthday! Well, it would have been at least. She would have been 99. Last year I made her chocolate almond cake to celebrate. I haven't made anything from Mastering the Art of French Cooking since then, although I officially have a Dutch oven and can make boeuf bourguignon when it gets cold again. But I figured the perfect way to celebrate her birthday this year was to make the same chocolate almond cake because it was SO good. And the Biz Journal staff thought so too!

I hadn't baked all week, actually, and then in the last few days I went on a binge. Meringues are something I love, for some reason. They're so darn simple and they melt in your mouth. I made this spiral style last year for Christmas because it was in the holiday version edition of Food Network Magazine. Then recently, Aunt Betty and I made flavored meringue kisses, and my favorite was the orange cream ones. So I combined them and made orange cream swirls the other day.

Then I ran across this recipe for Hefeweizen cupcakes. I love wheat and German beers, so it seemed perfect. It's a beer cupcake with a malt and beer glaze. To be honest, I thought they were a little weird, although I'm not sure what I was expecting. I might need to make them again without the glaze and with a real frosting, lemon-y maybe.

Meringues and a birthday: Meringue cookies, meringue candied almonds and tiramisu cupcakes

Last summer I remember how mild severe weather seemed. In Kansas, you can always expect some rockin' thunderstorms and a few tornadoes in the spring. Well, we are definitely getting paid back for it this year. I know everyone's heard about the tornadoes in Joplin, which are just a huge tragedy. We had tornado warnings around here about that time, which freaked me out a little bit, but they went south. The mark of a true Kansan: watching the storm coming (the lightning was cool!).

But the tornado experience I got this year I've never had before was having to go into shelter at work. I was in downtown KC when our publisher made us go down to the parking garage. Later, the whole building was told via loudspeaker to take shelter. There were multiple funnel clouds around and a couple actually touched down in the metro area. We were downstairs for more than an hour, and the long-time employees didn't remember that ever happening before. Naturally, it happens to me in my first week!


In my never-ending quest to find food I can munch on at work (so I don't spend a million dollars at the food quart), one of the options I came up with were these candied almonds. I've made something similar to them before, but this new recipe used meringue, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite things. Too bad it's a pain in the ass to make in rainy weather, which we seem to have an interminable supply of lately. Anyway, these almonds are super tasty and easy to make. Will probably do again.

Meringue No. 2 for this week: meringue kisses. I've also made a variation of these before, a peppermint sandwich version for Christmastime. I really like how cute the little cookies are, and I pipe them, which I like doing too. These are all three different flavors: the orange ones are orange creme, the green are lime and the pink are tutti fruiti. The basking recipe is from Joy of Cooking. To be honest, the only decent ones were the orange creme, which I want to make again. The other two tasted like cough syrup. Lesson learned: stick with sweeter flavors and less citrus with meringues.


Most of my friends know they all get a free pass — for your birthday I will bake you whatever you please (so if you didn't know this, here's your warning!). Last weekend was my friend Brianne's birthday. Back when my friends and I had the time (and the same days off) to do dinner parties, she requested a tiramisu cake. So it was only fitting that for her birthday I make her these tiramisu cupcakes. I've also made these before, but I remember them being significantly more difficult. Guess I wasn't as experienced then. Even Joe, who's anti-coffee flavor, ate at least part of one. Paired with some sake bombs, these were a fun birthday treat! (P.S. - Posting them on Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday!)

Daring Bakers' challenge: Yeasted meringue coffee cake

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.


I must admit, I'm not much of a coffee cake person. Actually, I'm not much of a sweets-in-the-morning person. Surprising, I know, given my affinity for sweets at all other times of the day, but morning is just too damn early for something sweet. That's why Aunt Betty and I made this in the afternoon.


After making this, you know, I might just eat it in the morning some day. What made it so awesome? The meringue inside. This is made by rolling out the dough into a rectangle and then spreading a meringue filling, topping it with chocolate and pecans (or walnuts) and rolling it up like a jelly roll. Then into a ring, some slits and another rise. Look it that gooey filling in there. Yum.


My one problem was rolling it up into the ring and having filling squeeze out, but ultimately it ended up good. And really, how nice does it need to look when it tasted so good?!

Christmas break baking: cake pops, meringues, spritzers, peanut butter cookies and Trix bark

With the amount of sweets sitting in my grandma's fridge right now, I could feed a small Kansas town. It's a little ridiculous. So far I've taken cookies to two of her neighbors and introduced my dad's employees to cake pops. Before I talk more about that, some good news.


I won Hoosier Homemade's Holiday Cupcake Challenge! I'm super excited about it. It was a really good excuse for trying some great new cupcake flavors: eggnog, pecan pie, chocolate peppermint and champagne. Thanks to Kelly, who helped me come up with the flavors. I will definitely be making a few of these again.


I've been taking care of all my Christmas traditions lately. This Sunday, my friend Lauren and I went to see the KC Ballet's production of The Nutcracker. She used to dance in her company's production of it, and I have gone to see it every year since...well, I don't know how long. Probably since I was about 5. Mom and I used to go, and then more recently I dragged a boyfriend along, but going with Lauren was perfect, except for the bratty little kid sitting next to her. Sigh. This picture is an old tradition that we don't do anymore, but was still fun when we did. My mom worked at Plymouth Congregational Church for 17 years, and it was a beautiful old building. Every Christmas they had a day of decorating, and my dad and I were unstoppable, because we didn't need a ladder to reach the things that were high up! I'm not sure we could manage that nowadays.


I did a bit of baking last week before coming back to Salina for my psuedo-Christmas break. First, a Christmas present for my friend Tim, who I made Boston Creme Pie for after his birthday. The last time I was at Tim's, there were about four empty bowls on his table that had been filled with Trix at some point, so when I came across this recipe for Trix candy bark, I knew I had to make it for him. It's my understanding it's not going to last very long.


I took these cookies into work (and I absolutely had to go for the Sesame Street fabric...yes I'm a 5-year-old sometimes). They're plain old peanut butter with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Always a hit.


Now for the baking at Grandma's. Pretty sure I packed up about half of my kitchen, including my KitchenAid, for my trip back to Salina. First up were cake pops, and these are easily the best ones I've done thus far. Red, green and gold sparkles. Dad's employees loved them!


Then spritzer cookies with the cookie gun Aunt Betty gave me. The recipe makes a gazillion cookies, so I've had to hand some out. I don't think the neighbors mind :)


Then some peppermint meringues with a chocolate frosting filling. Needless to say, Grandma's fridge is full right now. And I came to find that today is national cupcake day. I'm going to have to make up for that later. More holiday baking to come!

Holiday baking: meringues, divinity, Buche de Noel and gingerbread cupcakes

I have inherited Christmas decorations. Honestly, I'm not sure where some of them came from. I've got lots of gaudy plastic garlands, plenty of lights, red velvet bows, a gazillion ornaments and countless other things. Our front closet is filled with multiple boxes of decorations. I have to admit, I tend to be a fan of flashy Christmas decorations. When else do you get to light up a tree? I didn't put up all my decorations this year, though. Big Christmas tree in the living room, little one in my bedroom, garland and lights over the front window, stockings and a few knickknacks. I'm good with that for now.


I talked before about how we used to get a giant tree when I was younger. See how big that tree was? When you have 14-foot-tall ceilings (at the peak), as a child, you want the tallest tree you can fit in the space. We got a real tree every year, then had to use the ladder to decorate it. And just look at those garlands...gold AND silver. I'm glad I didn't inherit those.


I had another baking marathon with Aunt Betty last weekend. After many-a-day-in-a-row working, I had a number of days off, which I promptly filled with things to do. It's kind of unintentional, but I always enjoy seeing all the people I can when I'm off. Anyway, for once, we didn't use a ridiculous amount of butter. Only three sticks! Which is nothing, considering we made a bunch of different things. These were some meringues that I saw in my latest issue of Food Network Magazine. They are so light and airy, and I liked having them piped this way. They received mixed reviews from friends, but I think it was more the strange texture of a meringue than the taste.


Next on the list was divinity. I'm pretty sure not many people my age know what this is. I remember a woman in my mom's church choir made it every year, and I could never quite decide if I liked it. So we made it, and I definitely like it. I ran across this recipe at BakedBree that was pretty specific, thank goodness. We had to be really careful to cook it to the right temperature so it's firm but still chewy, and when the mixer started struggling (like the recipe said it would), it was perfect. I can't really describe the flavor on this, but it's basically really sugary with pecans.


Don't know if you remember, but one of my baking goals from a few months ago was a Buche de Noel, a French holiday cake. Basically it's a giant Swiss roll cake that you then decorate like a log. We made it from a cookbook Aunt Betty had, then used three (!) batches of frosting for the inside and the outside. It was soooo good though. And it does look like a log, I'd say!


Last but not least, my latest cupcake. I found these absolutely adorable gingerbread man sprinkles from Bake it Pretty. So I bought them, and then decided what to put them on. Enter the Martha Stewart Cupcake book. I hear these were pretty good, but I wouldn't know, because I never tasted them. I'm not big on spiced foods. But they sure looked nice!