Hey Kids, Suprise Inside!

I have never really been a big Martha Stewart fan. For some reason she just rubs me the wrong way. I can't explain it, there are no words. But when I was taking my Wilton cake decorating classes one of my fellow classmates was talking about how she was using recipes from the Martha Stewart website for the cakes she was making for her daughter's wedding. This piqued my curiosity, so I decided to check it out. I found a little link for a cookie of the day and found these Peanut Butter Surprises that I knew EC would love. So I made them, and they were awesome! Slightly greasy, but there is a yummy peanut butter filling surrounded by a chocolate cookie. Yum.

Peanut Butter Surprises

From MarthaStewart.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

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Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpats (French nonstick baking mats). Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, vegetable shortening, granulated sugar, and 1 cup brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until fully combined between additions. Add vanilla; beat to combine. Gradually add dry ingredients; mix on low speed until fully combined. Add chocolate chips; mix on low just until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; chill until firm, about 1 hour.
In a small bowl using a rubber spatula, stir together peanut butter and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar.
Drop 1 tablespoon of dough at a time onto baking sheets, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart. Make a thumbprint in the center of each cookie. Fill thumbprint with 2 teaspoons peanut butter mixture. Top with a second tablespoon of flattened dough. Carefully mold dough to cover the surprise.
Bake until firm, about 12 minutes, rotating halfway through. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets, and let cool completely on wire racks.

Bubble Ring

During the summer EC and I went and picked mountains of blackberries, some of which I turned into jam. I then put the jam into Ziplock bags and stuck them in the freezer. Sounds like a good idea, right? Wrong. Somehow the jam leaked through the bag seal and I was left with sticky jam all over the bottom of my freezer. On the positive side, the leaks were slow leaks, so there wasn't too much jam, but there was still enough that it was gross. And I still had a lot of jam. So I started making this Black Raspberry Bubble Ring Breakfast thingy, substituting Blackberry jam for the Black Raspberry Jam. It takes a little bit of time, but it lasts EC and I a whole week, so for a blessed week we don't have to worry about what to have for breakfast, but we have to eat the same thing every day, so there are some draw backs.

I still haven't quite figured out the syrup. Are you supposed to pour it on while the bread is in the pan, thus letting it soak into the bread? But that sounds like it would turn the bread all soggy, so I pour it over it on the first morning, and it forms a kind of lake around the Bubble Ring, so I am thinking this isn't quite right either, but it tastes fine, so whatev.

Black Raspberry Bubble Ring

From Taste of Home

Ingredients:
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
1 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter, melted, divided
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 jar (10 ounces) seedless black raspberry preserves ( I use Blackberry Jam, with seeds)

SYRUP:
1/3 cup corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, egg, salt and 3-1/2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/4 hours. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 32 pieces. Flatten each into a 3-in. disk. Place about 1 teaspoon of preserves on the center of each piece; bring edges together and seal. Place 16 dough balls in a greased 10-in. fluted tube pan. Brush with half of the remaining butter; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Top with remaining balls, butter and sugar. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 35 minutes. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Combine syrup ingredients; pour over warm bread. Cool for 5 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Yield: 1 loaf.

Who Wouldn't Love A Boa Cake?

So as I mentioned before, it was my little sister's birthday while I was down visiting the fam so I made her a cake. She said she wanted a chocolate cake and that her favorite colors were pink, purple, and blue. A little searching and I found a cake similar to this for inspiration and knew it was perfect. Who wouldn't love a boa cake?

I had a little bit of drama with the "N" letter, it kept breaking in different parts because my fondant was so dry when I rolled it out, so there was much Elmer's Clue applied. The cake was the standard chocolate cake recipe that I rely on heavily and it turned out moist as always. I had to make the cake on the sly, while she was at school, so it would be a surprise for her, and boy was she surprised! This may be my favorite cake I have EVER made and now it makes me want to experiment with Chocolate Plastique so I don't have to use fondant next time for the covering.

Happy Birthday EC!

When EC and I got married, January became the birthday month. First we have his Sister's birthday, the next day is my Sister's birthday, and then the day after that is EC's birthday. This year we were visiting our family during that January week, which meant I was making a lot of cake. I found a cake design that I liked, and after showing to to BFF, who told me it was too girly, I decided it would make a great joint birthday cake for EC and his Sister. Kind of killing two birds with one stone (or still being able to do what I wanted to) type thing.

This cake was so much fun to make because my mom and my sister helped me with all the flowers, circles, and stars and then EC's sister helped me put it all together. The top layer was yellow cake with a plum jam filling while the bottom cake was a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. The whole thing was then covered with marshmallow fondant. The little decorations were all made from fondant too - good thing I took that Wilton Fondant Class!

There was a lot of cake, but then again there were a lot of people there to eat the cake - 16 in all I think. Next I will post pictures of my sister's cake. Be excited, it had a boa.

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Marshmallow Fondant

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1 cup mini marshmallows

1 tbsp water

1 1/2- 1 3/4 cup powder sugar

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Place marshmallows in a standard 1 cup measuring cup and push down and pack them in. Place in a microwave safe bowl and add the water. Put in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Just long enough for them to soften and puff up. Take out and stir with a spoon until it is combined well. At this point it looks kind of soupy. Then add the sugar and mix and fold until all is incorporated and it is no longer sticky. Knead fondant with hands. This takes roughly about 5-7 minutes. Take a fondant roller or a regular rolling pin and roll out just as you would Wilton's fondant. You can get this fondant almost paper thin and it also repairs well. It's cheap, easy to work with, and tastes great too.

Chocolates

On tradition that my mom has during the Holidays is making her own chocolates. I was there in time to help her dip some of them this year, the caramel and the turtles. Mom cut up the caramel and made the turtles while I dipped them. We also dipped caramel covered pretzel sticks (more on that later) and leftover peanut butter balls that she hadn't dipped yet.

They turned out nice and chocolate-y. Dipping chocolates is a long process though and if you don't get the temperature of the chocolate just right it can make your chocolates look funny afterward, so here is the way I have learned to do it. Eventually I will learn to temper chocolate, but I think baby steps is a good idea at this point.

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To Melt Chocolate:

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Chop chocolate into little pieces and put them in a bowl with high sides, like a mason jar.

Put your bowl into a bigger bowl, filled with hot water from the tap.

Let your chocolate sit in the bowl of water for about 2 minutes, or until water feels cool.

Switch chocolate to another bowl filled with hot water from the tap.

Let sit in the bowl of water for about 2 minutes, stirring chocolate occasionally.

Repeat as needed.

Awkward Memory

Do you ever experience moments where you just cringe from embarrassment and every time there after when you think of it you feel awkward about it all over again? I had one of those experiences with one of these cheesecakes. You see, I was so excited to make this during the holidays, one for the 'laws, one for my family. I made the one for the 'laws first and everything seemed to go smoothly, and I presented it as a peace offering, and it seemed to be received well.

I wasn't there when they started eating it, I was on the phone with BFF. When I came into the kitchen, to my horror, there was my cheesecake, 3/4 of the way eaten, BUT THE CENTER WAS STILL RUNNY. I am not talking a little giggly, I am talking liquid stage. It wasn't good. It was bad. They were nice and said the cheesecake was amazing. But not only were the 'laws there, but so was EC's Uncle and his family, and EC's brother and wife. I still feel awkward about it, though no one said anything to me.

But then I made one for my family and it was WONDERFUL! Just the way it should be, creamy, brownie-y, chocolate-y, yummy. I think someone may be trying to tell me something here, but I am not sure what that is.

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

Adapted from A Piece of Cake, by Susan G. Purdy

Part One: Brownies
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (Baker’s chocolate, optional of course)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13×9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil.
Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.
Bake 30 to 35 minute or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles.
Cool brownies, then cut them into 3/4- to 1-inch squares for use in the cheesecake. You will have more than the two cups of cubes, loosely measured, than you will need. Add cubes to cake batter as directed below.

Part Two: Crumb

1 1/2 cups or 5 ounces finely ground cookies such as chocolate wafers.

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 24-centimeter springform pan. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours.

Part Three: Cheesecake

3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sugar

Make crumb crust as directed above for 24-centimeter cheesecake. Preheat oven to 350°F.
Make filling and bake cake: Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy and add eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla and sugar, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.
Fold brownie cubes in very gently and pour mixture into prepared pan. Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust and bake in baking pan (to catch drips) in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken.
When completely cool, top with following glaze.

Part Four: Ganache Glaze

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, broken up

2 oz. butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon confectioners sugar

Scald the butter and cream in a saucepan (or in a Pyrex cup in the microwave). Pour the hot cream/butter mixture slowly onto the chocolate. Blend until completely smooth. Add the extract and sugar and process until smooth. Spread over cheesecake while ganache is still warm. Chill until ready to serve.

Holiday Tortellini Soup

I don't know what the weather is like where you live, but where I am it is FREEZING and SNOWING! It has snowed so much in the last month that EC and I had to break down and finally buy studded snow tires. It snowed so much that instead of having me come into the office where I usually work, located 11 miles away, they had me work at the local office 2 miles away. It has snowed so much that they closed my office early so we could get home safe. Flights from the local airport have been cancelled/delayed. And top things off, they don't believe in salting the roads where I live. So, they plow, and then they lay down gravel. So the roads end up being something akin to a sheet of ice with little marbles on it. And the people here still don't slow down. I have seen too many cars and trucks fishtailing around in the road recently. They are already almost out of money to plow the roads and it is only January, sigh.
But on the positive note, Taste of Home didn't realize until it was too late that I had cancelled my subscription to their magazine, so they sent me an extra one that had a yummy soup recipe in it! And the cure for all things cold weather is good soup. This was our first experience with Tortellini and EC loved it so much that he wanted me to make my own Tortellini. But I have decided that after trying to make Pad Thai and Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo that there are some things that I just shouldn't make, and I think Tortellini may be on that list.

Holiday Tortellini Soup
From Taste of Home

2 T olive oil
2 oz bacon, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (49 1/2 oz.) chicken broth
2 t Italian seasoning
1 package (9 oz.) cheese tortellini
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes in puree
8 oz. fresh spinach, rinsed, stemmed, and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 c freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add bacon, cook until crisp. Add onion; cook 3-4 minutes or until soft. Add garlic; cook 1 more minute. Add broth and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to package directions; drain. Add cooked tortellini to soup mixture. Stir in tomatoes and simmer 5 minutes. Add spinach and cook just until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with cheese.

We're half way done!

Goodness it has been a while since I have posted! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! I was off visiting family and the 'laws for the holidays, but I am back now. I am happy to announce3 that on December 19th EC officially became half way done with school! We were so excited we celebrated with half things. For dinner, we had a half calzone, which equaled a pizza! The pizza was actually EC's creation. His half had sausage, olives, mushrooms, green pepper and cheese, everything I do not enjoy on a pizza. My half had chicken, tomatoes, green onion, and cheese, yum. EC also made the pizza a stuffed crust. We had a nice celebration and look forward to counting down the next year and a half.

Pizza Dough
From EC's Brother's Mother-in-law
Makes 2 pizza crusts

4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon yeast
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup oil

Combine ingredients. Oil hands and knead dough for about 10 minutes. Cover bowl with plastic, place in oven (not warmed) until double. Punch down dough, divide in half. Place dough on oiled pizza pans, spread out the dough by pushing down on the thick spots.
Top with your favorite pizza toppings.
Bake at 425 for 16-20 minutes.