TWD Rewind: Creme Brulee

I am SO sorry. I've completely neglected this blog, which is not okay. I've been super busy with a show I was in and then the end of school, which was crazy. This summer I'm attempting to get ready for my switch to a new school, but I hope I have time to post some more. I really haven't done any TWD, so I'm trying to get started on that again. My mom recently discovered that she has Celiac disease, making it harder to bake often, since our family is small and having one less person to eat wheat doesn't help.
This recipe is one that I actually made a while ago. It was simple and I had lots of fun caramelizing the sugar! I loved it and will make it again for sure!

TWD Rewind: Peanut Butter Torte

This week's TWD recipe was Fluff-Filled Chocolate Madeleines. I really wanted to make these, but I didn't have time. BUT, we had two of my friends and their parents over for dinner, so I decided to make a rewind for dessert. I decided on the Peanut Butter Torte, which took forever to make but was so worth it. It starts off with an Oreo crust. Then comes a peanut butter mousse, which has chopped peanuts and chocolate chips stirred in to make it crunchy. Finally is a layer of chocolate ganache, with more chopped peanuts on top. All put together, it's really good. My only comment is that Dorie says this serves 6-8 people. Um, no. We cut 11 quite big servings and only ate about half of the torte (because it is so rich). We ended up calculating that the whole torte could feed 25! If you want to try the recipe for yourself (please do), you can find it in the book. Enjoy!

TWD: Midnight Crackles

Hello there! It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm sorry - I had a show closing (Much Ado About Nothing, if you're wondering), and then I went away for Christmas and New Year's, which was a lot of fun. But now I'm back and just starting rehearsal for You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (I'm Lucy), so I have a little bit more time. Yesterday I didn't have rehearsal, so I came home right after school to bake this week's Tuesdays with Dorie! Yesterday was the group's third anniversary! I have loved being a part of the group, even if I'm not always one of the more... um.... participating members.
This week's recipe was chosen by Laurie of Slush and Jules of Someone's in the Kitchen. The dough for these was quick and easy to whip up. After reading the P&Q on the TWD website, I decided to only chill it for 20 minutes before baking. Ten minutes ended up being the perfect baking time for these.
From the title, I was thinking these were going to be really light and airy. They certainly weren't! That said, they were very good cookies. I didn't love them, but I liked them just fine and thought they were a nice easy, quick recipe to start off 2011. You can find the recipe on the hosts' blogs. Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving Pies

Hello there! Again, I'm so sorry I haven't been posting - now that all the high school stuff is over, I'm in my school's play (Much Ado About Nothing), which opens this week, so I've been in rehearsal every day after school. I just wanted to write a little about the Thanksgiving TWD, where we got to do a rewind of our choice.
At my school, all of the 8th graders have to do a community service project. I decided to make mine be working with the soup kitchen down the street. They always have a big meal on Thanksgiving, and love it when people bring in pies. I decided to combine that week's TWD and my community service project and make a whole bunch of pies.
About two weeks before Thanksgiving, I decided to make all of the crusts. For all of the soup kitchen pies, plus the three we were having for ourselves, that meant fourteen crusts.
A few days before the due date, I set about making the pies. First, I made all the pumpkin pies. Five for the soup kitchen, one for us. Those were easy - I rolled out the dough, whisked together the filling, and baked them all. Okay, not so easy - I did manage to slightly burn a few of them. I used Libby's classic pumpkin pie for those. Since my pans were a little smaller than those the recipe called for, I made four times the filling instead of six. I still had way too much, and ended up making a few mini pies in a muffin tin (some with crust, some without). They were as delicious as the pumpkin pies themselves (which were quite delicious).
Then I made the pecan pies. I used Dorie's recipe, but since I wanted a classic pie, left out the chocolate, espresso powder, and cinnamon. This time, I made five times the filling (haha, don't ask me why), which ended up being the perfect amount (???). Those baked up nicer-looking than the pumpkin, and the one we had was also quite tasty.
On Wednesday, I took the five of each kind of pie to the soup kitchen. They were so grateful to have ten homemade pies!
Wednesday afternoon, I used the remaining two crusts (and scraps from the others) to make two of Dorie's apple pies with my friend, one for my family and one for hers. Those were delicious as well!
All in all, it was quite stressful to make thirteen pies, but it was a lot of fun and I loved getting to take them to the soup kitchen. Who knows - maybe I'll even do it again next year :)

PS - I know I haven't done a Daring Bakers in several months, and I probably won't be able to do this month's either. Hopefully I'll be back to normal in January! (That includes weekly TWD!)

TWD: Peanuttiest Blondies and Cranberry Upside-Downer

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Nicole of Bakeology. She chose the Peanuttiest Blondies.
These blondies are fairly simple to make, and the part that takes the longest is just chopping up the peanuts.
I began making these thinking that they were going to be just a basic blondie, nothing to get too excited over. I think it's safe to say I was wrong! We loved these so much. They are kind of like a peanut butter cookie, due to the peanut butter in the batter, only thick and with peanut chunks and chocolate chips. I couldn't resist trying one right out of the oven, and they were yummy, but they were better once they cooled. If you want to try the recipe, you can find it in Dorie's book or here.



This week, I had some free time and also made a rewind for brunch on Saturday. I decided on the Cranberry Upside-Downer. This is made by boiling a whole lot of butter and sugar, pouring that in to a cake pan, and sprinkling on fresh cranberries and pecans. Then a simple cake batter is made (with plenty of cinnamon!), and it is poured over the cranberry/pecan/buttery-sugary-goodness layer. Forty minutes later, you take it out of the oven, flip it over, and are faced with a plate of deliciousness. Yum..... You can find the recipe in the book or here, because I know you're going to make it tonight.

Enjoy!

Oh Wow.

Oh my gosh. I haven't posted in a really long time, and I'm SO sorry. But this time I do have an excuse.
If anybody reading this has ever been in 8th grade in New York City, you know what I'm talking about. I think this past month has been the craziest in my life. Why? I'm dealing with applications to NYC Public High Schools. Admissions to the really good schools is very competitive, and I have spent all of my free time studying for tests, practicing for auditions, going to open houses and tours, and sleeping. :)
Now all of the tests are over, and I seem to have a bit more time on my hands (although I'm still super busy). Also, I was recently on Tuesdays with Dorie's website and read about how anybody who doesn't post by today is getting kicked out. SO.... I decided it was time I put up a post :)
I'm just going to talk about a jumble of TWD recipes I've made over the past few months (no pictures today, because I'm too tired and busy to find them).
Peanut Butter Crisscrosses - I actually made these way back in February, before they were chosen. I believe I doubled the recipe, because I was making them for a big party. They were pretty simple to make and delicious. A hit!
Peach Ice Cream - Oh my goodness, this stuff is amazing and SO addictive. In August, we went peach picking and I had to find something to do with all the quickly ripening peaches, so I went with this. It's actually very easy to make (although a bit time-consuming). The next time you have some extra peaches, go make it!
Crunchy Custardy Peach Tart - This was also a hit. The crust was same as usual, and the thin layer of custard was delicious. My only complaint was that the peaches were baked for so long, they seemed to lose a bit of their flavor. But all in all, a yummy dessert.
Mango Bread - I made this one because I was bored over the summer and wanted to cross something off the old rewind list. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this spicy bread, and I will make it again sometime!

Oatmeal Breakfast Bread - Oh, what we did for this bread. We were in Rome when we decided we wanted this bread. So we looked up the ingredients, got the people at the supermarket annoyed with our hand gestures as we tried to communicate what we were looking for, and went back to the house where we were staying. When we got there, we realized we had forgotten the applesauce. Back to the store we went. And who would have known? Apparently Italians don't believe in applesauce :) So we went back to the apartment, cut up and cooked some apples, and mashed them in a ricer. And you know what? That applesauce was pretty good. The bread, on the other hand, was just okay. This might have been a result of our not really knowing what baking powder/baking soda we were dealing with, and our measurements having been slightly off. We also didn't make the crumble, just sprinkled some spices and sugar on top. I guess I'll just have to make it again!
Raspberry Blanc Manger - When I went peach picking, I also went raspberry picking. When I got home, I decided to make this cold dessert. It was actually a bit of a let-down for me. The agar-agar (vegetarian substitute for gelatin) sort of clumped, making weird lumps in the custard. However, the taste was good, and everyone else liked it.
Blueberry Pie - I had never made a blueberry pie before, although I had always wanted to. I loved seeing the blueberries and sugar become a syrupy, yummy mess. I'll definitely make this one again.

Coffee Break Muffins - It's coffee in a muffin. What's not to love? Mmm, I want one right now.....
Tarte Fine - This was one of the easiest recipes in Dorie's book that I have made. It consists of a thin layer of puff pastry, some apples and sugar, and jam brushed on top. I didn't have high hopes for it, but it was really, really good. And so easy! (Especially when you used frozen homemade puff pastry, because you get the flavor of the homemade in a few minutes.)
Apple Pie - I loved loved loved this pie! It was a simple filling, but the best I've made. Definitely one I'll make again.

So those are the recipes I've made recently. Hopefully I'll be back next week with a more detailed post!

Whoops...

Well, guess what? I'm away again. In Rome! I'm enjoying lots of delicious pasta, pizza, gelato, and diet coke. Yes, diet coke - it's different here and SO amazing. Don't ask me why :)
Anyways, I wasn't able to make last week's Carrot Cookies or today's Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream, so I'm adding those to my list of rewinds. I'll try to make next week's bread here - does anyone know where I can find applesauce / what I can substitute for it? Oh, and I have a few rewinds that will be up this week. Come back soon!