Just a reminder...

Stay Hip everybody.

Happy almost-Friday :)

Belated Thanksgiving; What's next?

I can't believe it's been a week already since Thanksgiving, and that I didn't post about the baby pies! That's right, I was on dessert duty (yea, pull my arm) and of course pumpkin pie is always the dessert for Thanksgiving. I didn't want to make just any pumpkin pie though, especially with such high expectations from my nephews. So I took to my favorite baking pan and made baby pumpkin pies!

The process may seem real tedious and time consuming but it is so worth it. Not only are they adorable, but they're super easy to eat and it actually baked a lot quicker than just one normal pie. Divvying up a round pie crust into squares was probably the most challenging part of the entire process. The baking was simple, crank the heat to 425 for 15 minutes, back down to 350 for another 15 or until a fork comes out of the middle clean. Don't worry about the holes, just cover it in cool whip. :) 

They're just too darn cute and super easy to eat! No silverware necessary, just how I like it.

Now that all that has passed, It's time to think about Christmas baking and I'm really trying to get into the Christmas spirit but I think I need a little more oomph. To help I bounced around Target for a bit and found these beauties courtesy of Wilton..

I've already begun to experiment and have already learned that less batter is more, as the gingerbread men tend to come out looking like overweight middle-aged men with beer bellies because muffins tend to rise... Still delish though, especially if you can avoid freeze-dried blueberries.

Going to enter the cookie realm next I think, I have my decorating supplies handy to slap the Christmas spirit into me if I have to, and plenty of gingerbread cupcake recipes to follow. 

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Tea time!

Enough with the coffee for a little bit and on to full-leaf tea. I've never baked with tea before and thought I'd give it a shot. Coffee's easy to bake with, it will pretty much be good in anything, but tea is a whole different animal and it's hard to tell whether it's going to be good as a cake or if you should just let it be tea.

Still debating this idea with Blueberry White Tea.

I started with a basic pound cake recipe (lots of butter, lots of eggs) and used full-leaf tea. Normally people will steep tea bags in milk and add it but I found that the full leaf tea really works. You can't just have tea leaves buried in your cake though so you have to find a way to infuse it into a liquid you'll use in the cake. Milk could work but you risk curdling the milk if you leave it on for too long. In this case, I melted the butter and the let the tea leaves steep there. Take it off the flame when the butter melts and let it sit like you would tea (normally about four minutes). Let it sit a little longer because you don't want to pour hot butter into your cake batter.

Strain the butter with a tea press or a tea strainer when it's cool enough.

You can definitely taste the tea in the cake but I'm starting to second-guess my tea choice for the cake. It could have even been the poundcake recipe I used, not one of the best. On the other hand, the home-made icing is perfect, and makes them look great too. Amazing what butter, powdered sugar and milk can do.

Another case of the Mondays...

Okay maybe not thaaat bad but Mondays are usually baking days which brings the pumpkin bars I've been talking about. It's not too late for pumpkin, it IS still fall! No skipping Thanksgiving.

Crunchy, cookie-esque bars complete with pumpkin and complimenting flavors like nutmeg and cinnamon. Not to mention the cream cheese frosting I made with little dashes of cloves and cinnamon, giving it that chai-like flavor.

Of course I didn't stop there. Couldn't decide if I wanted to make cookies or brownies, sooo I combined them!

Chocolate chip brownie meets chocolate chip cookie. What's even better is eating them warm with vanilla ice cream on top. Or just eating them warm with your favorite cup of coffee (again, Verona's cocoa flavor notes go perfectly with all the chocolate madness going on) or a hot chocolate. Just feels right now that it's snowing in November.

In preparation for that I picked up stuff to make gingerbread cakes. Still think it's too early to tackle that, I'm not a fan of skipping holidays. But, speaking of gingerbread and spices, what the end of Thanksgiving means is the return of Christmas Blend to Starbucks! Also known as Holiday Blend (yes, they really are the SAME thing)

Starbucks has managed to throw you for even another loop by creating Christmas Blend Espresso roast.

What's the difference?

Well first, people automatically assume that espresso roast can only be used for espresso machines and espresso beverages. Nope! It's just a stronger roasted coffee that yes, is used in espresso machines but can be made in your coffee pot at home.

Back to the Christmas Blend. The normal blend is sweet, spicy and herbal and will go perfectly with all your gingerbread and nutmeg treats.

The Christmas espresso roast is basically the same thing, but has a little more kick. Not in caffeine, but in flavor. Remember, the darker the roast the LESS caffeine there is.

It's deeper and darker with that the help of the rich espresso roast but still holds the spicy and sweet and a smooth-like carmel feel to it.

Getting waaay ahead of myself. Even though Starbucks already has the red cups, it's only fair to let Thanksgiving Blend finish it's course.



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A spin on hot chocolate

Usually it has to be closer to winter for hot chocolate to be on my mind, but hot chocolate in cake form is a different story. And not just any hot chocolate; tuxedo hot chocolate. I'm not a big fan of real rich and dark chocolate so I found a happy medium by adding white chocolate chips to the batter along with mini marshmallows.

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Too sweet? No way. This chocolate cake is very different from any other chocolate cake and honestly, with it's smooth and soft texture it does taste like a good cup of hot chocolate. The marshmallows and the white chocolate collaborate nicely especially with the light and fluffy marshmallow frosting. 

Speaking of really good tuxedos, ready for some new James Bond this weekend? Grab a cupcake and take a look back at Casino Royale before Skyfall hits the theaters: Just Hit Play Also take a look at the not-as-good Qauntum of Solace

Or just look at this...

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Be prepared...

For all of this fun stuff!!

Yup, I've got plenty of ideas coming my way and I can't wait!! Another plus, the South Side knows what's up. I was still able to get some pumpkin spice marshmallows for a pretty crazy awesome batch of rice krispie treats. :)

Not to mention pumpkin bars and hot chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting on the wish list. It'll be a busy baking rest of the week! 

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Wake up!

First of all, I must say, I ate one of those cocoa white chocolate chip rice krispies and they are just a fabulous as I thought.

Since I was up all hours of the night baking, this is my situation:

Iced Venti sub lemonade Cool Lime Refresher.. aka liquid speed. Why? It's made with caffeine extract. They take caffeine out of un-roasted arabica beans and un-roasted beans have a ton of caffeine!

Still trying to find something to pair it with, obviously in the lime variety, key lime bars?? A new twist on the lemon square? Although I don't think I can touch the lemon square idea.. not after experiencing Aunt Donna's lemon squares - I'm usually not a fan of the tart lemon thing but my boyfriend's aunt uses some sort of magic on the baked goodness underneath that powdered sugar.

Anyway, until I figure that out, the refresher just wasn't cuttin' it. Welcome to the caffeine drawer:

While I was able to stock up on my Cafe Verona, which usually wakes me up, I needed an extra caffeinated smack in the face.

Don't worry, I still love that gorgeous espresso machine and the cafe I set up in my kitchen..

But I'm not so sure I can bring this to the office.

But, now that I have my stash back - including Pumpkin Spice Via - in the on-deck circle (or square for this place) is a pumpkin bar with cream cheese frosting and hot chocolate cakes with yes, marshmallow frosting. Perfect with Verona. ;) Maybe I'll tackle lemon squares, but it'll take a lot of convincing.



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It Must Be Monday...

You know it's Monday when...

I have more baked goods than I know what to do with... And my apartment feels like the surface of the sun with the oven on for hours.

One of my favorite things my mom would bake when I was a kid was oatmeal scotchies. Whenever she cooked, whenever she baked, I thought it was her secret recipe and was always afraid to try it myself. After all, no one can make anything like mom can.

Soooo I decided to spin it. I had to make the originals but sticking with my square theme, I made them into bars. I realized they take a lot longer to bake when they're in a brownie pan but it is so worth it. And it doesn't feel like you're eating two or three with one bar :).

Another twist- Oatmeal toffee. Replace the butterscotch chip with heath bar toffee bits and it's a whole new ballgame. Again extra baking time with a brownie pan but patience is a virtue and it's totally worth the wait.

Another twist on an old favorite - the rice krispie treat. Really simple, not really baking but it's square! And not your average rice krispie treat. How about chocolate with white chocolate chips?

Yeeeessss ma'am.


Pairings - Today's baking partner is the usual Moscato which would actually go very well with the butterscotch. Even a bit with the rice krispie treats. While Moscato is sweet and crisp and may not sound too good with chocolate, the lightness of the white chocolate balances out the cocoa and makes a great pair.

Moscato not your thing? You can go with a Pinot Noir or a mild Merlot. Still, this is probably why I like it so much, a good moscato holds up well with milk chocolate.

Now, who's going to eat all of this?



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Coffee Talk

Say hello to my new favorite toy! Well, maybe at least until I join the Keurig frenzy.

Coffee's the perfect pairing for anything baked but the right coffee is always key. Being a barista for, yes, eight years, I tend to be pretty picky in this department.

Obviously, pumpkin syrup in any coffee goes with anything pumpkin but if you're a not-so-fancy coffee drinker and a chocolate lover, I have to admit Starbucks' Cafe Verona is the way to go. Even as a barista I wasn't a huge coffee drinker but this full-bodied, multi-region blend with a touch of Italian Roast is perfect.

It's a blend of of Latin American and Asia/Pacific coffees and a touch of Italian Roast for depth. The rich, well-balanced flavor, cocoa texture and slight roasted sweetness pairs well with your favorite fudge brownie or chocolate chip cookie.

Some say Starbucks' coffee is too strong, and this drives me up a wall. Coffee is only as strong as you make it. The coffee beans at Starbucks come from the same place in the world as similar blends of beans at Dunkin Donuts, Intelligentsia, Lavazza, etc. It's all how they're prepared. Starbucks' grind-to-water ratio may be a little higher which is why some people don't like it; you can actually taste the coffee. They make it so you can catch those flavor notes, tell which part of the country their from with their acidity and pair it with things while it's not clogged up with extra cream and sugar.

Another fun coffee myth; The darker the roast the stronger it is. Stronger in flavor? Yes. Caffeine? Nope. The roasting process takes out the caffeine so if you think you're being gutsy by choosing Thanksgiving Blend over Pike Place this week at Starbucks, think again.

Okay one more fun coffee myth; Espresso has way more caffeine than brewed coffee. Nope. Two shots of espresso (give or take four ounces) has less caffeine than a 12 ounce cup of coffee. Why you ask? Espresso is shot out at about 20 seconds per 2/4 ounces depending on if you pull single or double, while brewed coffee does exactly that; brew. It takes about four minutes for a regular cup of coffee so the coffee grounds have more time to soak. Weird, huh? Did I lose ya? Probably way more than you wanted to know about coffee but something to think about next time you set that coffee pot for the morning.

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Welcome!

It's finally time to put my creative energy to work and share my joy of baking with everyone. My mind is flooded with ideas and being able to release all of this creative energy through baking is a wonderful feeling.

I love to bake but ironically enough, I don't really eat everything I make. Lord knows it's better to not have as much as I make in the house all the time. As my grandmother always said, "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips." So how about I spread the wealth a little?

I'm a giver; I cook and bake for others more than myself and I can't wait to take the town with my talents and begin this new adventure. So let's pour a nice cold glass of Moscato or some Goose Island or Revolution IPA and let the baking begin!!

But not before a tribute to a big contributor to my square-baking hobby:

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