Jam Crostata

Who gets up at 4:30 on a Sunday morning to bake a crostata and read a book anyway? Silly me.

I just read the most amazing story of patriotism, courage, drive, adversity and probably 10 other descriptive words that escape me at the moment. I know the book has been out for a while, but I don't seem to ever get around to reading them until someone decides they are going to make a movie, then I gotta read and research it thoroughly to see what Hollywood embellishes once they take it from the pages to the big screen. Nothing worse than a true story made fiction by Hollywood in my opinion so I hope they do these men and the surviving members of the families of these men justice. It's called the Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell.

I love this recipe by Giada De Laurentiis. This is from her cookbook "Giada's Family Dinners" and the recipe is actually titled Plum Crostata, but I use whatever jam I have on the shelf from canning season. This is Peach. Give it a go, both the Crostata AND the book.

 It's truly a day worth spent!  How fun is that!

Jam Crostata

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups flour
2 Tbs sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
10 Tbs (1-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2" pieces
3-4 Tbs ice water
3/4 cup preserves
1 Tbs toasted sliced almonds (optional)
Confectioners' sugar for dusting (optional)

Instructions

Combine the flour, sugar, lemon zest, and salt in a food processor and whir to blend. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the ice water bit by bit, pulsing until moist clumps form. Gather the dough into a ball; flatten it into a disk. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the dough on a large sheet of parchment paper to an 11 inch round. Transfer dough on the parchment paper to a large, heavy baking sheet. Spread the preserves over the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the dough border over the filling to form an 8-inch round, pleating the crust loosely and pinching to seal any cracks in the dough.

Bake the crostata until the crust is golden, about 40 minutes. Put the baking sheet on a rack to cool for 10 minutes, then slide a metal spatula under the crust to free the crostata from the parchment so it doesn't stick while cooling. Cool to lukewarm. Sprinkle with the almonds and dust with the confectioners' sugar if using. Transfer the crostata to a platter and serve.

Recipe from Giada's Family Dinners Cookbook

Baby Taylor's Cake

Think you are seeing double? Nope! It's true, I am having another grandchild that is due just 5 weeks after Baby B! This one is a girl and we just had her shower this past weekend. Considering she is the first girl grandchild she is already known as the "princess" and had special chocolate crowns made just for her occasion!

This cake was done in the Devil's Food recipe from none other than Zoe Francois. I only used half a recipe for a small cake and had plenty to do a tray of mini cupcakes too. The frosting is also my favorite Mr. Brown's Italian Meringue Buttercream.



These cute little suckers were just poured in solids using my coverture chocolate that I tempered, the
good stuff!   How fun is that!

Devil's Food Cake Recipe

Yield 3 doz cupcakes

Ingredients

3 cups granulated sugar
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/8 cups cocoa powder (It doesn’t seem to make a difference if you use natural or Dutch-processed), sift if lumpy.
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup hot coffee
1/4 cup rum or brandy (if you opt out of the booze then use equal parts coffee)

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare 3 dozen muffin tins with papers
Combine all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and whisk until combined, set aside.

Whisk together, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla until well combined. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Slowly add the hot coffee and rum to the batter and whisk until totally blended and smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be quite runny.

Fill a measuring cup or pitcher with the batter and then fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full. (Warning: some people have reported back that their cupcakes overflow when they fill them this full. You may want to try the first batch 2/3 full!)

Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Allow to cool on a cake rack and then frost.

Updated: Sweet Baby Taylor was born February 15! How fun is that!

Recipe from Zoe Francois

Baby B's Cake

So..... I'm going to be a Grammie!

Quite an exciting year for me...Yes, it's true. My daughter is having my first grandchild, a little boy, sometime around January 5. We just recently had a beautiful baby shower just to get a glimpse of how spoiled he will be.

I made my usual coconut cake which I fondly refer to as my "wedding" cake because adding flavors to it is so simple! This was a whipped cream and blackberry filling with my usual Italian Meringue Buttercream frosting. The ribbon decoration was done with a rose leaf pastry tip.  One of my wonderful sisters made these cute little cake pops that were absolutely fabulous! We didn't even collaborate and our colors were almost perfect!

I made these adorable little mustache suckers that were just poured in solid chocolate for the favors.


I can't believe I'm going to be a Grammie! How fun is that!

Coconut Cake and Italian Meringue Buttercream recipes found here.

 

Updated: Little Baby B was born on Christmas Eve! How fun is that!

French Toast Muffins

Aren't these the cutest little things! I am hosting a baby shower for my daughter next weekend and am trying out the menu. We are doing a brunch and she wanted one of those french toast casseroles to be included. I tried several recipes but they were just terrible, not to mention I wanted something visually appealing and lets face it, casseroles just aren't beautiful! They are more comfy and cozy, I wanted festive and adorable! I found this great blog hosted by Maria called Two Peas and Their Pod. She is a genius! These took a little bit of work like she mentioned, but so worth it! The best part was I could make and bake them the day before and then I just popped them in the oven to warm right before the party! We served them with homemade pomegranate syrup and they were a huge hit... How fun is that!

Baked French Toast Muffin Recipe

Yield 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 loaf French bread, cut or torn into 1/2 inch cubes (about 12 cups of bread)
2-1/2 cups milk
6 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Cinnamon Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Butter and maple syrup for serving, optional

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.

Grease a 12 cup muffin tin. Add about 1 cup of bread cubes to each muffin cup. Carefully pour egg and milk mixture evenly over each muffin tin. You may need to press down on the bread cubes after you pour a little mixture and then pour more. Pour slowly or you will have a mess. Cover the muffins with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. To make the cinnamon streusel, in a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix together with your hands, until you have a crumbly mixture. Remove the muffins from the refrigerator and sprinkle the muffins evenly with the streusel topping.

Bake for 25 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Let muffins cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and serve with butter and maple syrup, if desired.

Kim's Notes: I actually doubled recipe and was able to get 3 dozen muffins. This makes a little more egg mixture than you need for 1 dozen, but I ended up using the leftovers to make traditional french toast while these were soaking!

 Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod.

 

Wanna Be Kind Bars!

My sister-in-law sent me a text yesterday and said "you're gonna freak out, look what I found!" and boy was she right! We are granola bar freaks and this is right up our alley. Monica Matheny has this website where she shows all the work she has done to create the copycat Kind Bars. She has 8 different varieties and I have made all but 2 so far. They are all fabulous, so far my favorite is the Almond Coconut with the Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate coming in a close 2nd! Could have been my measuring, but I found the Apricot Almond and the Blueberry Pecan to be a little too sticky for my liking so next time I will measure a little heavier on the nuts. Like I said, could have been my initial measuring as these were the first two I made right out of the gate. She has done a superb job with her renditions and I urge you to visit her site and try these bad boys! Way to go Monica!

I wrap these in my trusty confectionery twisting wax paper that measures 4-1/2" x 5-1/2"and they fit perfectly! Then I wrap again in cellophane and pop them in the freezer. These freeze exceptionally well and I just pull them out the night before and throw them in our lunches the next day. Instant treat! How fun is that!

Recipes from The Yummy Life.

Bridal Shower Rose Cake

My niece is getting married in early October and asked me if I would make her a cake for her Bridal Shower. I was so flattered that I jumped at the chance before I realized I was so far from being a professional baker and I panicked! It took me weeks of planning because when it comes right down to it...what kind of cake are you going to make? I wanted it to be perfect for her. Well, let me tell you it's just not that easy to decide!

Cakes can be presented in many forms, from simple sheet cake to elaborate decorated works of art. The types of cakes, filling, and frosting are all things I needed to contemplate. After weekends of trials trying to create something outside my scope, I decided simplicity was best.  I wanted simple sophistication with a little vintage flair. I needed a white cake that would carry a fresh raspberries and whipped cream layered filling. My ole standby coconut cake is one of the best cakes as far as structure and texture that will carry almost any type of filling and frosting you could throw at it. I just replaced the coconut extract with raspberry extract. I filled it with fresh whipped cream and raspberry layers and frosted it with the most wonderful Italian meringue buttercream with vanilla extract that gave it the most beautiful off white color you have ever seen. I mix my buttercream with whipped cream in a 3:1 ratio to give it a lighter taste and texture. Now mind you when it came to the decorating that was actually the easy part....You-Tube! Did you know you can learn to do anything on You-Tube? How fun is that!

Mr. Brown's Italian Meringue Buttercream Recipe

 Yield 1 cake

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

5 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons

Instructions

Boil 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water over medium heat until it reaches 245. As it cooks begin meringue so it's ready when syrup is done.
Whip egg whites with a wire whisk in a stand up mixer on high until soft peaks form. About 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle in 1/4 cup sugar. Beat.
Slowly pour the hot syrup into the meringue steadily with the mixer still on high.
Beat the frosting for 7-10 minutes until the outside of the bowl is room temperature.
Beat in butter by the tablespoon. The butter will deflate the frosting a bit.
Add in desired flavorings.

Flavorings:
Chocolate: 1/2 cup melted and cooled chocolate and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Coconut: 1 teaspoon coconut extract and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Coffee: 1 teaspoon espresso powder or 3-5 tablespoons strong coffee.

Kim's Notes: I add in fresh whipped cream at the end after any desired flavorings have been added in. Usually a ratio of 3:1 so that I can maintain enough structure to do delicate pipework.

 Recipe From Mr. Brown on Food.com 
 Cakelove video of Mr. Brown - Great watch!

 

Fruit Pizza

So my sister-in-law made these fabulous fruit pizza's for my niece's graduation.  I fell in love with this and got the recipe and made it for Father's Day. It is so remarkably simple and so flippin' good!

I am sure she was as embarrassed to tell me as I will be to pass this on, but the recipe is actually from the Pillsbury website using their refrigerated cookie dough. In no way do I condemn shortcuts what-so-ever, but I will tell you that I cannot bring myself to buy dough of any form...well, I have been know to buy pizza dough from Trader Joe's, but only after making my own several times and realizing you couldn't taste the extra effort I put into homemade, so I caved.

 But other than that, o yeah, there was this time when I was caught short and needed to made a quick pie and got the pie dough from Trader Joe's...another secret. I really do prefer to make my own, it's very simple and doesn't take too much time, but in a pinch, Trader Joe's shines! I would put it up against a homemade crust in a contest...but with that said, I really can't do the Pillsbury thing

I used my sugar cookie recipe from Sherry Yard's  "The Secrets of Baking" cookbook. Rolled the dough out and baked it on my pizza pan. Let it cool and then spread that yummy sauce all over the cooled cookie and make your fruit masterpiece. The fun is cutting it into wedge like pizza slices and serve it next to a scoop of vanilla ice-cream if you really want to go for it! I highly recommend!


The main thing you really need to know is the pizza "sauce" consisting of cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Who can resist that! I also don't use the apple jelly to glaze the fruit, just seems too  sweet and goopy and unnecessary to me, I prefer the freshness. However, depending on your circumstances, if you thought your fruit would dry out, I suppose a little brush stroke of jelly wouldn't hurt.

These are also really really cute little party finger foods when done on individually baked little sugar cookies. Just chop up the fruit into smaller pieces. You could even let the guests make their own. How fun is that!

 

Master Sugar Cookies Recipe

Yield abt 3 doz 3-inch round cookies

 Ingredients

6 ounces (1-1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbs sugar, plus 1/4 cup for rolling
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, at room temperature
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

Instructions

Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle or beaters. Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla. Cream on medium speed until it is smooth, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.

Add the egg and beat on low speed for 15 seconds, or until fully incorporated. Do not overbeat. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.

On low speed, add the flour. Beat until all of the flour is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix on low speed for 15 to 30 seconds, or until you have an even-textured dough.


Remove small handfuls of dough from the mixer and plop them down the middle of a sheet of parchment paper, creating a log about 1-1/2 inches wide and 12 inches long. Fold the parchment over creating a sausage. Chill for at least 1 hour. At this point, the dough will keep nicely, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month. (Thaw frozen dough at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until you can slice it.)

Preheat the oven to 350. Adjust the rack to the lower third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

When the dough has chilled, remove it from the parchment, pour the remaining 1/4 cup sugar onto your work surface, and roll the log in the sugar. Using a chef's knife, slice 1/3 inch thick rounds off the log. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Alternate the rows, checkerboard fashion.

Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges, turning the baking sheet front to back halfway through the baking. Remove from the oven and carefully slide the parchment onto a work surface. Wait at least 5 minutes before serving or 20 minutes before storing in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. The cookies can also be frozen for up to 1 month.

* Note: Baking at a lower temperature (325) for a longer period of time results in a crisp cookie. Baking at a higher temperature (350) for a shorter time creates a softer, chewier center.


Kim's Notes: If using this recipe for the fruit pizza, I roll it out on parchment as quickly as possible for the pizza, then chill. I bake at the 350 degree temp creating the softer crust for about 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.

 Recipe from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard

 

Pillsbury