Coconut... Truffles?

I found a YouTube video for Moroccan coconut truffles, recipe here, which led to making these very simple delights. I made a few minor modifications:

3 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
whole almonds

1 c extra coconut for covering



Mix your coconut and milk! Use a small ice cream scoop to make balls out of your mixture. Place an almond in the center before you eject the creamy ball into the extra coconut. Coat with coconut and refrigerate. Serve your delicious balls cold.
Yum.

Peach Clafouti

I found this wonderful dessert in the Tartine cookbook. I whipped it up for book club today and it was quick, easy and wonderful! I thought I would share. Before I could even think about a picture, it was all gone! Hopefully next time.

Clafouti
Lightly adapted from Tartine

2 c. milk
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
3 eggs
1/3 c. + 1 tbsp flour
2 c. peaches, peeled and chopped

Preheat oven to 425 and butter a 10 inch pie dish.

In a small saucepan, mix the milk, sugar, vanilla and salt. Heat until the sugar is dissolved, just before boiling. While this is heating, add one egg and the flour to a bowl (preferably Kitchenaid mixer) and whisk until there are no lumps. Add the two remaining eggs.

Once the milk mixture is ready, ladle small amounts into the eggs while constantly whisking so you don't scramble the eggs! Keep going until it is all incorporated.

Pour the mixture into the pie dish and place the fruit in the dish, spacing it out evenly. Bake 30 - 35 minutes. Additionally, you're supposed to caramelize some sugar on top (which didn't work out for me so much) by upping the oven to 500 and sprinkling 1/4 c. sugar on top.

Yummmmm!!

Daring Baker's Challenge: Piece Montée or Croquembouche

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.
Yummy, yummy, yummy!!!!! What a great challenge! I had no idea how amazing and easy it was to make cream puffs. Although I made the tower, next time I'm just sticking to the cream puffs. They were so ridiculously amazing and went really well with the book club girls!!

Ingredients:

For the Vanilla Crème Patissiere (Half Batch)1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.

Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.

Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing batter:
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.

It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Baking:
Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

Filling:
When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.

Use one of these to top your choux and assemble your piece montée.

Hard Caramel Glaze:
1 cup (225 g.) sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

Daring Baker's Challenge: Traditional British Pudding

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet. Spotted dick. That's right, I made spotted dick!! Just like in the movies. With one caveat of course, I left out the spots. I don't like raisins or currants or any other small chewy pieces of anything in my cake. I have to totally admit, I was not thrilled about this month's challenge. When I read the ingredients and realized I was supposed to use fat from a cow's stomach to make this cake, it did not sound yummy. However, they gave us an option to use Crisco and it turned out just fine. :)

If you would like to bake along:

Type 2 puddings – Steamed Suet Pudding, sponge type.

(100 grams/4 ounces) All-purpose flour
(1/4 teaspoon) salt
(1.5 teaspoons) Baking powder
(100 grams/4 ounces) breadcrumbs
(75 grams/3 ounces) Caster sugar
(75 grams/ 3 ounces) Shredded suet or suet substitute (i.e., Vegetable Suet, Crisco, Lard)
(1) large egg
(6 to 8 tablespoons) Cold milk

1. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into bowl.
2. Add breadcrumbs, sugar and suet.
3. Mix to a soft batter with beaten egg and milk
4. Turn into a buttered 1 litre/ 2pint pudding basin and cover securely with buttered greaseproof paper or aluminum foil.
5. Steam steadily for 2.5 to 3 hours
6. Turn out onto warm plate, Serve with sweet sauce to taste such as custard, caramel or a sweetened fruit sauce.

Variants:
Spotted Dick - Add 75g/ 3oz currants and 25g/1 oz of mixed chopped peel with the sugar.

Then I added a little mixed berry syrup to jazz it up a bit and voila!!

Daring Baker's Challenge

Well... lo siento. Life just ran away with me this month and I completely forgot to start my marmalade this month. I'm sure I'll make it anyway, even though I will have missed the deadline for March, but on the bright side, I'll have April done early!!

In other news, I haven't been baking lately! I know, it's some sort of cosmic crisis but I have been cooking a lot. Maybe I'll share our risotto with you. Back to dreaming about cinnamon chips and baking supplies that are so not available in this town.

MSC Roasted Banana Cupcakes

If you're a banana lover, this recipe is for you! I made these yesterday to bring to Monday Cupcake Madness Day at work (at least that's what it has turned in to). The frosting is this delicious buttercream with honey and cinnamon and it was fabulous... I think I could have gone for frosting only on this recipe since I like banana a little, but not a lot. Those who do like banana, J for example, LOVED this cupcake. He wanted me to make more so he could have them instead of my coworkers. hehe... picture to come, I promise.

Recipe here

DBC: Tiramisu

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

Tiramisu is delicious. There is a French pastry chef in town that makes a tiramisu that is so rich and absolutely to die for... Bearing that in mind and reminiscing about the last time I ate it, I started this recipe hoping for similar results...

It's a 3 day task if you want it to come out correctly. First, you make the zabaglione, the marscapone cream (yes, the stuff you normally buy in a little carton in the grocery store), and the pastry cream. I obviously went a little heavy on the lemon, my end result tasted much too lemony for me. Let that creamy stuff sit in the fridge until tomorrow.

Welcome back, today you will make the lady fingers. These turned out delicious! Unfortunately, you need every single one to make the tiramisu, so no snacking here!

Dunk the lady fingers into strong espresso. Quickly! If they sit for more than a few seconds, they get soggy... We don't want soggy cookies. Whip your cream, throw everything together and voila! Tiramisu. We had this for Caree's birthday at Book Club and it was yummy. I think it's far too much work to make for future tiramisu endeavors, but great to learn it anyway!

Let me help you understand the enormity of this task by including the recipe for you to try!

Mascarpone Cheese – Vera’s Recipe (Baking Obsession) for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese.
Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger Biscuits – Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home
Tiramisu – Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007

POSTING DATE: February 27, 2010

OUR NOTES/ TIPS:

1. If you cannot find Marsala, port wine is considered a good substitute.
2. If you would rather not use alcohol in your tiramisu due to diet restrictions or because you want to serve it to children, you may replace the Marsala with an equal amount of espresso or coffee.
3. Many people, especially those who are not excessively fond of coffee, might find brewed espresso very strong. In this case, please feel free to dilute the espresso or coffee to the desired strength.
4. It is generally suggested that cream with 25% fat is best for making mascarpone, but 36% works just as well.
5. We both used lime juice. Deeba has a recipe for mascarpone posted on her blog here.
6. The mascarpone recipe below is for approximately 340gms of mascarpone. The tiramisu recipe requires only 1/3 cup/75gms so you may scale down the recipe to requirement or put the extra mascarpone cheese to other equally good use. (100gms cream will yield approximately 75gms mascarpone)
7. While using the double boiler to make the mascarpone as well as the zabaglione, always ensure that the bottom of the bowl on top doesn't touch the bottom of the lower one. It is important to use a stainless steel bowl to pour your cream into, while making the mascarpone.
8. Ladyfinger batter is very fragile so fold in the flour and yolks very carefully into the meringue so that the whites don't lose their volume.
9. It might be a good idea to decide the size of the dish in which you intend to set the dessert, and make the fingers to a size which would fit that dish. This makes it easier when assembling the tiramisu later. Do remember that ladyfingers/ savioardi puff up a little while baking.
10. Ladyfinger biscuits may be stored up to a week in an airtight container. We both made the savoiardi fingers 4-5 days in advance, and stored them in an airtight box in a cool place (or the refrigerator).
11. We both made the zabaglione & pastry cream the previous day, and assembled the tiramisu the next morning. I (Aparna) then froze my tiramisu for 7 days before decorating and serving it.
12. Placing the bowl (in which cream is to be whipped) and the beaters of the hand held electric mixer in the fridge for about 1/2 to 1 hour before hand makes the cream whip up very well.
13. Do not dip the ladyfinger/ savoiardi into the coffee solution for more than ONE second, or they might become very fragile & disintegrate. Extra soaking is likely to spoil the end product, making it soggy. I (Aparna) dipped my biscuits only on one side and found they soaked up more than enough coffee solution.
14. If you would like to de-mould your tiramisu from your dish (cutting can be easier and neater this way, you can line your dish with plastic wrap (leaving a little extra on the sides of the dish) and then start assembling your tiramisu. Once the tiramisu sets in the refrigerator, you can use the overhang to pull the tiramisu out of the dish.

THE CHALLENGE:

We have chosen Baltimore pastry chef Carminantonio Iannaccone’s version of tiramisu for a couple of reasons.

• Firstly, his recipe is different from most other tiramisu recipes as he makes a zabaglione, an egg custard which is flavoured with Marsala wine (you may use coffee instead). Even more important is that his zabaglione is cooked so there is no risk from using raw eggs.
• He also makes a vanilla flavoured pastry cream which we haven't seen in other tiramisu recipes.

While both of us do eat eggs, we do have a preference for desserts where the smell and taste do not come through. We found that the coffee in the recipe masked the eggs in adequately.

Just in case you would prefer to make an eggless tiramisu, we are including recipes in the Alternate Bakers section to make eggless ladyfinger biscuits and an eggless and alcohol-free tiramisu.

Note: There are also some links to other alternative recipes at the end of this post. Deeba has also provided step-by-step pictures where possible.

The recipes for this challenge are presented in the following order:

A. Tiramisu (includes zabaglione & vanilla pastry cream)
B. Mascarpone Cheese
C. Ladyfinger/ Savoiardi Biscuits

MANDATORY:

You MUST make your own savoiardi / ladyfinger biscuits and mascarpone cheese with the given recipes. You must also make the zabaglione and pastry cream using the given recipes.
If diet or health restrictions do not allow you to use these recipes, please go ahead and use one of the alternatives provided or other suitable recipes to make them, but please include links to the original recipe in your DB post.
Sponge cake may be not be used as a substitute. After all, a large part of this challenge is making those biscuits.

VARIATIONS:

Tiramisu is usually made in square dishes and cut into squares to serve. If you want to be different, please feel free to give full rein to your creativity as to how you want to present, decorate and serve your tiramisu. Make it square, round, as individual servings, or whatever! However, your version of Tiramisu must contain the mascarpone cheese and the savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits you made.

PREPARATION TIME:

Tiramisu is made up of several components which can be made separately and ahead of time and put together the day before serving.
Making tiramisu from scratch requires about 2 to 3 days (including refrigeration) from when you start making the mascarpone to the time the tiramisu is served. So this challenge requires some prior planning.

Please read the instructions as you need to begin making the mascarpone at least a day in advance.
The zabaglione & pastry cream also need 4 hours to an overnight for chilling, as does the main dessert. The flavours mature after an overnight rest, and the dessert can be kept refrigerated for 2-3 days.
Once assembled, the tiramisu can be frozen till you need to serve it, in case you are not serving it immediately.

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:

• A double boiler (a stainless steel bowl that fits inside a large saucepan/ pot without touching the bottom will do)
• Two or three large mixing bowls
• Whisk
• A medium sized heavy bottomed pan
• Fine meshed strainer (to remove lumps from pastry cream, if any)
• Electric mixer, hand held
• Serving dish (or dishes) of choice (8" by 8" should be fine)
• Spatula for folding and spoons as required
• Plastic wrap/ clingfilm
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper or nonstick liners
• Pastry bag (can be disposable)
• Plain 3/4" pastry bag tip or cut the end of pastry bag to this size (If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off)
• Oven
• Cooling rack
• Thin-bladed spatula for removing ladyfinger biscuits from the baking sheets
• Instant-read thermometer (optional)
• Strainer
• Cheesecloth or cotton napkin for draining mascarpone
• Fine-mesh strainer for shaking cocoa powder on tiramisu

TIRAMISU

(Recipe source: Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 )
This recipe makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
For the zabaglione:
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee)
1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

For the vanilla pastry cream:
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1 tablespoon/8gms all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup/175ml whole milk

For the whipped cream:
1 cup/235ml chilled heavy cream (we used 25%)
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract

To assemble the tiramisu:
2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional)
1/2 cup/110gms sugar
1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder

Method:
For the zabaglione:
Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.
In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.
Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.
Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the pastry cream:
Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.
Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.
Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)
Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the whipped cream:
Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

To assemble the tiramisu:
Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8" by 8" should do) or one of your choice.
Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.

Now to start assembling the tiramisu.
Workings quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.
Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.
Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.
To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.

MASCARPONE CHEESE

(Source: Vera’s Recipe for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese)
This recipe makes 12oz/ 340gm of mascarpone cheese

Ingredients:
474ml (approx. 500ml)/ 2 cups whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream (between 25% to 36% cream will do)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Method:

Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface.
It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.
Vera’s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.
Keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 4 days.

LADYFINGERS/ SAVOIARDI BISCUITS
(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)
This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2" to 3" long) ladyfingers.

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner's sugar,

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.
Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.
Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5" long and 3/4" wide strips leaving about 1" space in between the strips.
Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.
Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.
Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.
Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.
Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

LINKS & ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Site Links:
Step by step pictures for Tiramisu including zabaglione & pastry cream –
Gluten Free Ladyfingers: 1000 gluten-free recipes by Carol Fenster (ladyfingers pg 436, Tiramisu pg 651)
Gluten free Ladyfingers and Tiramisu
Diary Free Tiramisu: Levana Cooks Diary-Free by Lévana Kirschenbaum, Menachem Adelman, Meir Pliskin (pg 86)

Video links for making tiramisu:
These are not for the recipe given for this challenge, but the procedure in the video would be a helpful guide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TEJXgjId8w
Gordon Ramsay - Video for dipping savioardi - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HlqQqP6Mcw

Browned Butter, why do you taste so good?

I made Martha Stewart's Brown Sugar Pound Cakes.... the recipe was pretty easy, no shortage of eggs and butter as usual. They baked into perfect little mounds and smelled delicious. When I was making the frosting... that's a whole different story!

It started with browning butter. If you've never browned butter (like me) be forewarned! I put it on the stove, stick in the pan, the recipe said medium flames. I was busy so I opted for a rather low medium. I walk off, expecting it to take the recommended 10 minutes, la la la laundry... then J says um... I think I smell something burning. OMG!!!! I rush to the stove to find smoke billowing up from my little pan. Eek! What to do... I look at it, it's a black liquid and it's on the verge of setting off my loud, annoying smoke detectors! I take it off the stove, kill the burner and it starts "sizzling" which means it's hitting the hot parts of the pan and I get it to the sink, turn on the water, water meets butter, butter jumps ship! It sprays EVERYWHERE. No joke, I was covered, my counter tops, the floor, the sink, you name it! I have little burn marks to prove it. What's the moral of my story? Some people burn water, I burn butter.

After what feels like my millionth frosting disaster, I washed the pan, put another stick of butter in it, cleaned and cleaned while it melted and watched that puppy like a hawk! I am so so so glad that I did. This is the most amazing frosting I have ever tasted. No joke, this is my absolute, all time favorite cupcake now. My mouth is watering just typing about it! ugh! I took it to work for more rave reviews. If you haven't had browned butter, go to your kitchen, go now... and send me one!

Recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

MS S'Mores Cupcakes

These really do taste like S'Mores! The cupcake part is very graham crackerish and then the chocolate topped with Marshmallow that I clearly did not whip long enough was delicious. They were devoured at the office and now people want to know when they can expect my next baking adventure.

MS Strawberry Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream Disaster

When you see the picture of the beautiful strawberry cupcake on this page, you can't help but want to taste it. I have been wanting to make these cupcakes since I bought this cookbook and today was the day. Here is the end of the cupcake process (where I'm still happy and you can see my butter and eggs patiently waiting at room temperature to become yummy frosting):


And here is where I start to doubt if I really have any baking abilities at all.... It all started with a recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream. If you've never tried this frosting and are thinking how the heck do you get meringe and buttercream together in one frosting, welcome to the party. Devoutly following the recipe with the sole substitution of margarine for butter, which is very common in my kitchen, I heat up the sugar and egg whites, whip my egg whites and they look beautiful and glossy and perfect... then the disaster comes. I'm supposed to add 3 sticks of butter (oh yes, I said 3, look out Paula Deen) in tablespoon sized chunks, slowly. No problem! Until of course I turn my delicious meringue into curdled milk. So I'm totally lost, thinking this is horrible and I ruined the frosting. I promptly toss it out and attempt it again the next day.

Which proves to be disastrous also. This time, I went for the "real" thing: butter. Same beautiful meringue, same curdled milk. At this point, I'm seeking help. I read another recipe which clearly says... don't worry if you think you made curdled milk, keep whipping and it will smooth out. Wrong... I continued on for forever. Maybe 15 - 20 minutes and got a much more consistent strawberry color, no smooth delicious frosting. What did I do wrong?!?! I tasted the curdled mess (hehe that sounds worse than it was) and it was indeed yummy. I refrigerated it, added it to my cupcakes because boys have no clue if it looks pretty or not and took them to the fire station. I hear they were devoured. I thought they tasted great, looked terrible. I'll be trying this frosting again, third time's a charm.