another one bites the dust

since this is the current state of affairs in my kitchen...
i'll just tell you about some of the yummy things i ate this w-end! the hubby and i decided to take a little drive down to princeton...they have the cutest little town! it reminds me a lot of wellesley...quaint square filled with pretty things catering to the not-college crowd. the town also happens to have a fairly decent number of good eats though - something wellesley sorely lacked. i mourned the loss of alden merrell after my first year (while it wasn't great eats, they definitely satisfied my sweet tooth!)

i tried to convince the hubby that we needed to leave the city by 8AM...sadly it wasn't happening. by the time we made it to the little chef, it was almost 5PM and they were sold out of practically everything!! a couple of sad napoleons stared at us from behind the glass...we managed to score a tiny treat - a cassis something or other.


this is what it looked like after surviving a two hour trip back to the city...(we made a few stops along the way.) thank goodness it tasted WAY better than it looked!! the cassis was tart but not overpowering and the chocolate mousse on the bottom was silky, soft and heavenly. the hubby and i were sharing the dessert after dinner but i think at one point i told him to stop eating...=D

the little chef
8 south tulane street
princeton, nj 08540
note: try to get there early enough to try the croissants!

a second chance

i looooooove peanut butter...i mean love.
back in the good ol' days when it was just me and the pups, we'd regularly sit on the futon in front of the tv licking peanut butter off the spoon straight out of the jar. and the crunchier the better!

the first time i made these i was terrified of overbaking them...especially since the instructions specifically said "do not overbake." so of course...i totally underbaked them. they ended up in the trash can.
s i g h...but they smelled SO good that i had to try again. and the second time was lovely washed down with a cold glass of milk. yum!

peanut butter cookies
a couple of changes from the magnolia bakery cookbook

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup chunky-style peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (they used peanut butter chips.)
sanding sugar

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. in a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. set aside.
3. in a large bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter together until fluffy. add the sugars and beat until smooth. add the egg and mix well. add the milk and vanilla extract. add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. stir in the chocolate chips. chill the dough for 30 minutes.
   
4. drop by rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheets. (you can make the crisscross patterns with a fork if you like - but mine did not turn out as pretty.) lightly sprinkle with sanding sugar.
5. bake for 14 minutes (they said 10-12 minutes.). cool the cookies for 1 minute on the sheets and then tranfer to a rack to cool completely.

for adults only...

like many immigrants to america, my parents have quite a few interesting stories to tell and when they first arrived, my mom was a nurse who was studying to pass the exam here in the states. well the first week they were here, they happened across a bookstore...


they went in looking for nursing books for my mom to study. the guy in the bookstore was kind enough to let them know when they entered that they didn't carry what they were looking for...and it wasn't until several years later that they learned what "adult" bookstore actually meant.


these cupcakes are just as sinfully delicious and will ruin whatever innocent preconceived notions you may have about them. =)

black bottom cupcakes

by david lebovitz

cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

5 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

filling

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

2 ounces bittersweet / semisweet chocolate, chopped

1. beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar and egg until smooth. stir in the chopped chocolate pieces. set aside.
2. adjust the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. line a muffin tin with cups.
3. in a medium bowl, sift together flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. in a separate bowl, combine the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla.
4. make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring until smooth. (be careful not to overstir! it will make the cupcakes tough...)
5. fill the muffin cups until 2/3 full and top with a tablespoon of filling into the center of each cupcake.
6. bake for 25 minutes (until the cupcakes feel springy when pressed).

NOTE: the original recipe says it makes 12 muffins...but i got more than that out of the batter.

a what?

"a snickerdoodle"

"what's that?"

"basically a sugar cookie covered in cinnamon sugar"

i haven't the slightest idea where these came from or how they ended up with that name. but an old co-worker first suggested them years ago and i just got around to making them. (yes, my to-do list is insanely long and growing!)

don't be like me.

they're the perfect cookie with your afternoon tea...or your morning cup of coffee...or before the morning cup of coffee, after the morning cup of coffee, before lunch, after lunch, afternoon snack, before dinner...i basically ate them all day long!

snickerdoodles
adapted from Martha Stewart

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, room temperature

1. sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. set aside. cream together butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar using electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. beat on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). scrape down the sides and add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. add the dry ingredients and beat to combine. chill the dough for an hour.
2. after the hour is up, preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack set in the middle. line baking sheets with silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
3. combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. form balls of dough using 1.5 teaspoons of dough. roll each dough ball in the cinnamon sugar and place about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
4. bake for about 10 minutes until the cookies are set in the center and begin to crack. (they will not brown.) transfer cookies to wire rack after 5 minutes to finish cooling.

long time no sweet!

let's catch up...

the temperature has dropped considerably...the boots have made an appearance. scarves are slowly starting to show up...and the jackets are patiently waiting! fall always makes me think of back to school and buying new supplies. nothing said back-to-school quite like brand new pens and fresh 3-ring notebooks!

so to kick off the season, i started with a classic...my gfs and i love the crumbly topping so much that i usually double the recipe for it!

apple crisp

from allrecipes.com

the best part of waking up...

...besides the folgers in your cup would be one of these beauties!

of the recipes i've tried for cinnamon rolls, i like this one best (so far) because it doesn't call for an artery-clogging amount of butter that makes me just want to immediately run to the treadmill. the dough is remarkably easy to work with and really allows the brown sugar and cinnamon to sing. and it does taste just like the cinnamon rolls from cinnabon!

instead of waking up at some gawd-awful hour, i made the dough at night and stuck them in the freezer right before the second rising. just defrost at room temperature for about 15 minutes while the oven is preheating and add a few minutes to the baking time.

now THIS is the way to start a morning...=)

cinnamon rolls
adapted from allrecipes

1 cup warm milk, about 110 degrees F
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast / active dry yeast
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
4 1/2 cups white flour

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted

3-4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

1. dissolve the yeast in the milk in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. in a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter and sugar. add the egg mixture to the milk in the bowl and stir to combine. whisk together the flour and salt in a separate large bowl.
2. gradually add the flour mixture to the milk mixture, kneading with the dough hook as you add. continue to knead (either with the dough hook or by hand) until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth.
3. proof the dough for 1 hour in a warm place covered with a moist towel.
4. roll the dough into a 16" x 21" rectangle on a lightly floured surface. spread the softened butter over the dough and sprinkle with the sugar/cinnamon mixture. roll up the dough and pinch to close the ends.
5. cut into 12 pieces and place rolls in a lightly greased baking pan. cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.
6. preheat oven to 400 degrees.
7. bake rolls until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
8. beat together the cream cheese, butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla and salt to make frosting.
9. spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

meet my eleanor...

speed + nice cars + action = a movie that the hubby would love
(yes, he loves the fast and furious franchise...yes, all of them!)
if you've never seen gone in 60 seconds less than 8 times (consider yourself lucky), but then you've probably never heard of eleanor. eleanor is a 1967 shelby gt that is nicolas cage's achilles heel in the movie. he is enamored with the car even though she trips him up...

...much like this cake does to me. (s i g h)...coconut cake.
the first time i made this cake, i dropped it on the floor after i had just finished icing it. the second time i made this cake, i didn't bother to level off the crown and the icing would not cooperate. and yet, this is the cake i want when i'm craving coconut cake and nothing else will suffice.the frosting tastes just like a soft marshmallow and it's really cool to watch the egg whites turn into this glossy, gorgeous mess as the hot sugar heats up the egg whites and changes them...like magic! (and in spite of having dropped the cake on the ground, the frosting is actually quite resilient! God bless them southern cooks...)

miss essie brazil's three-layer coconut cake