Another Friday baking adventure

So, as I mentioned in my other post today...I found a new Chocolate chip cookie recipe that I kind of like...it is out a cookbook that my mother bought me from a rummage sale in New York City when she went last fall. The cookies themselves, are not pretty. But I will give you a picture.

And as long as I am here....I will include the picture and recipe of the whoopie pies that I made a couple weeks ago!!

Annie's Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cookbook: Trevor Family Favorite Cookbook

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 to 9 minutes
servings: 4 dozen (not in the Mazzara household....but that is what the book says!)

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temperature
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar firmly packed (you can use regular brown sugar, I have done both)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl.

Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes or until barely brown for soft chewy cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.



NOW....a couple weeks ago, I decided to make whoopie pies. Another new adventure. But they were well received. :)

Recipe From: King Arthur's flour

Ingredients

Cakes

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa
• 2 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup milk

Filling

• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar
• 1 1/3 cups Marshmallow Fluff or marshmallow creme
• 1/4 teaspoon salt dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cakes

• 4 ounces butter
• 7 1/2 ounces brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 ounces Dutch-process cocoa
• 10 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 8 ounces milk

Filling

• 6 1/4 ounces vegetable shortening
• 4 ounces confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar
• 5 7/8 ounces Marshmallow Fluff or 1 1/3 cups marshmallow creme
• 1/4 teaspoon salt dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

2) To make the cakes: In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla till smooth. Add the egg, again beating till smooth.

3) Add the cocoa, stirring to combine.

4) Add the flour to the batter alternately with the milk, beating till smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and beat again briefly to soften and combine any chunky scrapings.

5) Drop the dough by the 1/4-cupful onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving plenty of room between the cakes; they'll spread. A muffin scoop works well here.

6) Bake the cakes for 15 to 16 minutes, till they're set and firm to the touch. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pans. While still lukewarm, use a spatula to separate them from the pan or parchment; then allow to cool completely.

7) To make the filling: Beat together the shortening, sugar, and marshmallow till well combined.

8) Dissolve the salt in the water, and add to the marshmallow mixture. Add the vanilla, and beat till smooth.

9) Spread the flat side of half the cakes with the filling. Top with the remaining cakes, flat side towards the filling. Wrap individually, in plastic wrap, till ready to serve.

10) Yield: 8 large whoopie pies (about 4" dia., about 5 ounces each). To make smaller pies, see tips at right.

FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY

Above you will see my little black cat who decided that it was necessary to make herself known while I was trying to take pictures of the fudge puddles.

Today was gloomy and yucky and a perfect day to bake.

I have once again taken up running. My new goal is to be able to run a 10K by June 15. Of to a good start this week...Tuesday was 4.95 miles, Wednesday was 5.3 miles and Thursday was 5.3 miles. Today is my day "off". So I decided to bake!

Last night...I made cut out cookies for Bella to take to school and this morning we frosted. Now...I say WE....that means that I frosted and she decorated....well...created a really big mess. So that is how my day started.

Then...I made rhubarb dessert to give to my grandmother who is currently not eating a whole lot...thinking that something high in calorie would be good for the 92 year old woman. Then on to Chocolate chip cookies...with a new recipe that I really kind of like...I will post it. THEN...because Shannon brought it up, I decided to make Fudge Puddles. Now this is a recipe that I found about 7 or 8 months ago when I first started this whole baking kick. And because Shannon raved about them so...I decided to try them. They are REALLY good. :) I would also like to try a few different variations as far as the chips are concerned, but here is the recipe....




Recipe adapted from: Fudge Puddles

Fudge Puddles
For the "crust" of the cookie:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

In a large mixer bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, and both sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla:


Next, in a seperate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mix. to the creamy mixture:




Chill in the fridge for at least one hour (or if you're impatient like me, in the freezer for about 15 minutes). Remove from fridge and form into 1" balls. I use a small melon baller scoop to make mine a uniform size. Grease a mini-muffin pan and add 1 ball to each muffin cup:


Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven and make an indentation in the center of each ball:



Let them cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes and then move to a cooling rack. Once all of the cookies are done baking, it's time to make the fudge filling:

Filling:
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. butterscotch chips (if you don't like butterscotch, just use milk chocolate chips)
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 t. vanilla
chopped nuts or sprinkles(optional)

In a microwave safe bowl or saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except the nuts/sprinkles. Microwave for 1 minutes. Stir well. If there are still unmelted chips, continue to melt in microwave for 15 second increments until all smooth:






Immediately start filling the cookie cups with the filling. It will start to harden just a bit as you do it, so make sure to give it a good stir once in awhile. Sprinkle with the nuts or just leave plain. Let set for an hour or so. When I filled these, I put the chocolate mixture into a ziploc bag and cut off the end. I do believe that it was easier than trying to use a spoon!!


Tip: You can use the extra chocolate mixture over ice cream later on. Just store in the fridge and heat when ready to use. It's so good!

Once again, time to catch up

BIRTHDAY!! Last week was Calvin's birthday. I made cakes. Yes...more than one. The first cake was made to take to the FCR. To celebrate. And I am told that they like things that contain alcohol....so off to the Cambridge cooler I went in search of Baily's Caramel Irish Cream. Yea....for $26 a bottle....not going to happen. Especially since I was only using a small amount. However...I found a box of four little bottles....for only $10. SOLD! Off I went. Back into the little red car and and home to make frosting. So....here is cake #1. Baily's Caramel Irish Cream Cake.

Bailey’s Caramel Irish Cream Cake
Chocolate Cake(recipe follows)
Chocolate-Caramel Ganache(recipe follows)
Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting(recipe follows)
Store bought Caramel Sauce



Deeply Dark Devils Food Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

11 TBSP unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cups warm water


1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease two 9 inch cake rounds and dust with flour.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix to incorporate.
3. Beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat on high speed for about 3 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed, add the flour mixture in three additons alternating with the warm water in two additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix at low speed for 30 seconds. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake cake for 45-55 mintues. Cool cake for 20 minutes after baking.
5. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely before frosting.
Source: The Cake Book by Tish Boyle


Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting
3 large eggs

4 large egg yolks

½ cup water

2 cups sugar

3 cups of butter, at room temperature

½ tsp salt

4 TBSP Bailey’s Caramel Irish Cream

Using a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the eggs and yolks in a large bowl on high speed for about 5 minutes. In a medium saucepan, combine the water and sugar; simmer until it reaches the soft ball stage, registering between 234 and 240F on a candy thermometer. Immediately transfer the syrup to a large heatproof liquid measuring cup. In a slow, thin stream, add the sugar mixture to the egg mixture., mixing on low speed the entire time. Increase the speed to medium and beat about 7 minutes, until the syrup has cooled. Add the butter, half a stick at a time, beating on medium after each addition. Once all of the butter has been added, beat on medium speed until the frosting thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in the salt and Irish Cream.


Chocolate-Caramel Ganache
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup heavy whipping cream

10 caramel candies, unwrapped

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat the cream and caramels over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramels have melted completely. Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate and stir until melted.
Source: Both Ganache and Buttercream are adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman


To Assemble: .
Take your two 9-inch cake and cut each one of those layers horizontally in half(so you should have 4 layers). Place the bottom layer on a cake plate. Spread a thick blanket of frosting on top. Add the second layer. This time spread the chocolate-caramel ganache on that layer. Place third layer on top of that and spread more buttercream. Place forth layer and frost the top and sides of the cake with remaining frosting. Drizzle store bought caramel over the cake, however much you would like. Place cake in refrigerator until ready to serve.



CAKE #2.



This was our birthday cake for the family. We have a tradition that we go out for dinner as a family for everyone's birthday. So...off to Red Robin we went because the famirefused Shushi....me included!

Deeply Dark Devils Food Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

11 TBSP unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cups warm water

I will post the frosting at a later date. It is from Dorie Greenspans cookbook. It is the marshmallow frosting for the devils food white out cake.
The cake is topped with Seroogys Dark chocolate curls. YUM!
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease two 9 inch cake rounds and dust with flour.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix to incorporate.
3. Beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat on high speed for about 3 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed, add the flour mixture in three additons alternating with the warm water in two additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix at low speed for 30 seconds. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake cake for 45-55 mintues. Cool cake for 20 minutes after baking.
5. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely before frosting.
Source: The Cake Book by Tish Boyle

AND...Rhubarb Dessert....
Rhubarb Dessert:
Recipe adapted from: cooks.com

1 c. flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. butter
2 tbsp. milk
4 c. raw rhubarb, diced
1 (3 oz.) pkg. strawberry jello

TOPPING:

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
3 tbsp. butter

Mix together flour, salt, baking powder, and butter; add egg and milk. Press into ungreased 9x9 pan. Cover with diced rhubarb. Sprinkle with dry gelatin.

Mix topping until crumbly. Sprinkle over top. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Serves 9.