milk bar cakes

I picked up this post card during my visit to Milk Bar when I visited NYC back in July...it is now displayed above my desk...hanging on by a small, blue robot magnet. I have heard rumors of their infamous crack pie and cookie selection, but never of their made to order wedding cakes. Isn't this one beautiful?
My first layer cake attempt was...interesting, but after all was said and done and done, frosted and garnished...building a cake like that from scratch was so gratifying. (I know, I get my kicks in weird ways okay).
I think if I ever get the courage to try and build something this one, I might cry after.
One day...

fresh lime chiffon cake

This was my second attempt at making this cake. The first was over 1 year ago for Abe's birthday...and I failed miserably. My cake was about 3 inches thick, dense, and had this really weird spongy texture. I'm kind of embarrassed now as I'm reliving it...only because I still served it up at this really nice restaurant and to good friends who ate it obligingly (sorry guys!).

Anyways, the first time I tried this cake (made by my baking guru, Karena), I savored each delicious bite.... then greedily took the leftovers home to eat for breakfast the next day. The delicious memory paired with round cake pans I scored on sale at Sur La Table, inspired me to give it another try. Yes, it was quite dramatic. I followed the directions to the T and used a KitchenAid mixer this time (instead of a hand mixer) to whip the egg whites into a fluffy cloud mass with stiff peaks. Big difference.

Cakes came out perfect. Light, fluffy, fresh, not overly sweet. Balance was restored. Wounds healed, baking cajones slightly given back, etc. etc. It's a nice divergence from the usual chocolate or vanilla cake, not to mention it's from Cooking Light (so don't feel too bad for cutting yourself a big ass slice). Labor of love? Yes. Worth it? Definitely.

To make the filling, combine:
1 teaspoon finely grated lime rind
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.  


Ingredients:  
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon cake flour
2 cups sifted cake flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon finely grated lime rind
1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
3 egg yolks
8 egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Garnish (optional):
Fresh mint sprigs 
Fresh blueberries 
Lime wedges

To prepare:
1) First prepare cake pans. Coat the bottom of your 8" round cake pans with cooking spray (no need to spray the sides). Line the bottoms with wax paper and dust with a little bit of flour. This whole process helps the cakes pop out of the pan when they are finished baking.

2) Lightly spoon 2 cups cake flour into measuring cups and level off with a knife. Sift into a large bowl and combine with 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Whisk ingredients until combined. 

3) In  a separate medium bowl, combine oil, 1/3 cup lime juice, 3 tablespoons water, 1 teaspoon rind, lemon extract, and egg yolks; stir to combine. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and mix until smooth.

4) Now for the fluffy egg whites. Beat egg whites in a stand mixer on high until foamy. Add cream of tartar until soft peaks form, then add the rest of the 1/4 cup of sugar one spoon at a time, until stiff peaks form. Gently stir in 1/4 of the fluffy egg whites into the flour mixture; gently fold in the rest.

5) Divide cake batter in thirds and pour into prepared pans. You can break any air pockets by cutting through the batter with a knife. Bake at 325° for 20 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool cakes in pans for about 10 minutes; then remove from pans, remove wax paper, and then cool completely on a wire rack.
 
To assemble the cake, place 1 cake layer on a plate or cake stand. Spread generously with lime filling (about half). Repeat step, topping it off with the third cake layer.  Spread with frosting--I used this recipe, omitted the chocolate, and added 2 tablespoons of lime juice, which really adds a nice light freshness. 
Garnish with mint, blueberries, lime wedges, or leave as is.

s'mores stuffed cookies...revisited

I've made these S'mores stuffed cookies a few more times and have since developed a S'mores Stuffed Cookie science if you will.

A few tips and changes...
Instead of breaking the graham crackers into smaller shapes, I stick a whole S'more inside the cookie (1 graham cracker sheet broken in half, 2-3 pieces of Hershey Chocolate, and 1 marshmallow cut in half lengthwise). I thought putting a smaller cookie would make these a little more manageable, but I've found it works better with a full size.

When assembling your cookie, make the bottom layer wider in diameter than the S'more inside (or Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in this case). Then pick up the whole thing and fold up the edges to enclose S'more. Add extra dough as needed. 

This results in cookies that are about the size of my open hand (much more fun and impressive)...and much better looking than my original version.

Bake for 22-24 minutes or until browned on top and dough is cooked through. Gently move onto a cooling rack for a few minutes. Serve warm, of if you need to, microwave for 10 seconds.

Unbaked cookies can be stored in the freezer (in case of an emergency). Taking them from freezer to oven actually results in really fluffy cookies in my experience.

I'm brainstorming and would love your ideas! What else can would you want to see baked inside a cookie? 

berry crisp

Spring = Sweet, tart, fresh berries (+ my favorite cookies) = Mixed Berry Amaretti Crisp. 

I'm still going through this book and loving every single recipe I've tried.

Topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup crushed Amaretti Cookies (about 16 cookies)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup toasted almonds slices

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, then chilled in the fridge.

You can make the topping in a food processor, but I did it with a fork/by hand. In a bowl, combine the flour, both sugars, cinnamon, almond slices. Crush amaretti cookies and add to the mixture. Add pieces of butter and combine till the dry ingredients start to hold together.

Filling: 

6 cups mixed berries

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons AP Flour

2 teaspoons lemon juice 

Arrange fruit in a baking dish, ramekin or bread pan in my case. (The juice from the fruit will come out during baking, so to prevent a mess, place a piece of foil under your dish to catch any spillage; or you can just fill your dish with less filling). Sprinkle with a generous amount of the topping mixture (enough to cover all the fruit). Bake at 375 degrees F for 40-50 minutes 

Serve warm with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream

(I've tried the peach version and loved it as well. You can find that version and original recipe here)

chocolate chip banana bread {muffins}

Got some overripe bananas? This recipe is amazingly simple; yet the bread comes out fluffy, light, and perfectly moist...no special equipment or fancy ingredients needed. I usually make them into loafs, but these portion controlled muffins made for a great dessert/breakfast treat. 

You'll need:
2 cups flour
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn baking powder
1 tspn salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
3-4 very ripe bananas
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 tspn cinnamon
*optional: semi-sweet chocolate chips tossed in a teaspoon of flour; confectioners sugar

1) Place peeled bananas in a small bowl and microwave for about 25-30 seconds. Mash with a fork and set aside to cool.
2) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3) In a separate large bowl, mix eggs and sugar together. Stir in the bananas, vanilla, oil and cinnamon, then add the flour mixture a third at a time. Mix to combine.
4) Optional: stir in chocolate chips. I forgot where I learned this, but if you toss the choco chips in a little bit of flour, they won't sink to the bottom when baking.
5) For muffins, bake at 325 for 18-22 minutes or until fluffy, and golden brown on top.

If you decide to make banana bread, divide batter into two 9x5 loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to an hour.

Recipe courtesy of Cathy Lowe via the Food Network

s'more stuffed cookies

I had been eying this recipe from Jenny over at Picky Palate for quite some time. How can you go wrong here, really? S'more? Awesome. Chocolate chip cookie? Yes. S'more...inside a cookie? That's... electric.

My first batch were horrendous looking. They looked like a band of misfit cookies...led by a storm trooper. Second batch looked better, but mine came out much more pillowy than I expected. (Texture reminded me of these cookies). Regardless, they were pretty delicious. And fun to see people's reactions to what they were.

They taste best soon after they are made, but if you're eating them the next day, just heat them up for about 15-20 seconds and enjoy. :)

S'mores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
(courtesy of Jenny Flake--Picky Palate)

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups flour
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn kosher salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips)

1 package of graham crackers
Marshmallows (regular sized cut in half)
3 Hershey chocolate bars broken into individual pieces

Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together. Mix in chocolate chips until well combined.

I really liked this cookie dough. Like I mentioned, the texture and fluffiness of the final cookies is similar to the brownie stuffed cookie I made a while back, but this dough was much easier to work with. I liked that it didn't stick to my hands during assembly which was my biggest qualm about the brookie recipe (must be all that buttaaa).

I ended up making a few "smaller" versions of this cookie by putting a smaller s'more in the middle. They were still HUGE. To assemble s'more cookie:

1)  Roll out spoonfuls of cookie dough into "patties". Press graham cracker into the bottom layer.
2) Layer with marshmallow, chocolate and another graham cracker.
3) Top off with another cookie patty.
4) Close the edges to make your giant monster cookie.

I played around with the assembly quite a bit. I made full size, half size, quarter size; rolled them in crushed graham crackers before baking, mixed in some crushed graham crackers into the dough before rolling out... It's kind of hard to mess these up.

Jenny's directions were to bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes, but my full size cookie took about 20-24. So keep an eye on them, till they are brown around the edges. Let cool and enjoy.

**Update: Tips and Tricks to make these bad boys here. 

P.S.