Makin' whoopie! (pies, that is)

Happy Halloween! I hope you and yours have/had a safe and enjoyable holiday, should you choose to partake.  I celebrated last nighted with Heather and Nick and other good friends.  We dressed up like lunatics and joined the other freaks who revel in the one holiday where one can wear tights and a leotard and no one judges you!  

It's a wonder I am as successful in the kitchen as I actually am.  The following recipe was borderline epic fail (for a number reasons, which you'll see).  Perhaps I am just a cursed baker.  I am not sure why I am such a delinquent.  Amazingly, after forgetting a significant ingredient, these cookies still turned out.  You'll notice I took a huge shortcut by using boxed cake mix.  Awesome shortcut! No measuring for this handicapped measurer!

My marshmallow frosting, on the other hand, which I followed that recipe to a T, failed miserably.  I attempted to frost my first cookie, and the frosting sadly dribbled off the side.  

I will stick to things that I am good at -- like cooking with pasta, and bacon and cheese.  Mmmm, bacon.

The ingredients.

Misstep numero uno: forgetting the 'softened' butter in the microwave.  DOH!

Misstep numero dos: forgetting the 1/2 cup of milk. DOH!

Moment of pure genius: scooping the batter into a plain ol' ziploc bag and cutting off one corner.  

Easy peasy batter distribution.

Misstep numero tres: runny batter. DOH!

Moment of pure genius part deux: canned frosting.   

Packed up and ready for the party.

Pumpkin whoopie pies

recipe from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

pop on over to her site for the recipe and share the love!  Try these cookies, they are wonderful, even without the milk!

Baking-envy

As promised, here's the brownie recipe that has been taunting me since Monday. I finished a wellness class and brought these as a treat -- it's a bit of an oxymoron, teaching people about nutrition and exercise and then closing the workshop with brownies. Everything in moderation, right?

I am a sucker for white chocolate and blonde brownies are nearly impossible for me to pass up so when I saw the combination of the two I knew I had to try them. Plus, the batter has ground almonds, which gives it an additional layer of flavor that beats any plain ol' chocolate brownie. Also, these have blueberries -- tricks people (me) into thinking they have a teensy bit of healthfulness. I will be making another batch of these tonight because my class devoured my stash, and I haven't been able to concentrate since. Brownie on the brain.

I made the mistake of opening the bar and sneaking a bite (or two or three) of the chocolate;

the recipe calls for an entire 4 oz bar. Oops!

Ground almonds. I didn't grind my fine enough so the brownies had a bit of almond texture.

The finer the better, I think.

Melting the butter and chocolate over my makeshift double-boiler.

Since I am a klutz, I cracked the eggs in a separate bowl to avoid an egg catastrophe.

Notice the almonds in the batter? Yum.

You could add other fruit, too. I think the original recipe called for raspberries.

Heart cutouts.

For the recipe, pop on over to Eat my Cake now. Not only does she bake beautifully, but she posts in French, too! As always, my brownie doesn't compare, but I am honest and open about my baking-envy.

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me!

I did not die a premature death due to a sugar coma last night. I did wake up with this realization: I BAKED A SIX LAYER CAKE!!! I more than expected to find that it had collapsed, fallen to one side, color oozing all over my fridge. Not the case -- the cake was intact and looks relatively like the original.

Not exactly like Whisk Kid's, but it'll do.

I am sitting here now in my jammies wondering what to do with my day. I have been struck with a tragedy of gargantuan proportions -- I am out of coffee and on my birthday. Tear, sniffle. Coffee fairy, if you're listening, please bring me some grounds. Excellent. Thanks.

I suppose I should get dressed and go to work. Really, I would like to eat rainbow cake in bed and watch Glee. It's my birthday, right. Coffee fairy . . .

For those of you who can't join me for cake tonight, here are the photos. You can join me on the messy, color-rific, almond-flavored, blood-sugar spiking baking frenzy. xoH

This cake took over my kitchen.

Color is fun.

I don't have a fancy sifter -- this guy works swell.

Sifted.

Not shy in the butter department with this cake.

Cream the butter and sugar.

Bad photo of egg whites.

LOTS of egg whites were used, too.

Egg whites added to the sugar and butter.

Vanilla extract.

Alternating, add the sifted dry ingredients

and warmed milk.

Milk.

You're left with the yummiest cake batter on the planet,

and what looks like a little rump.

Separate batter into six bowls.

Add the gel food coloring -- a little goes a long way!

Parchment paper-lined baking pans.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Cool cakes in the fridge.

Layer the cakes with buttercream.

I couldn't be bothered taking photos

of the buttercream process, too.

A bit wonky.

A hot mess.

Better after another layer of buttercream

and a night in the fridge.

The white frosting is deceiving.

Behold the colors of the rainbow!

Recipe from Whisk Kid. Check her out -- she's a marvel.

Mini = less guilt?

Today is Friday. I am taking the day off to go work on the farm. The skies are blue. The wind is calm, and Shakespeare can suck it.

I completed a six week wellness workshop in Malad last Friday. Teaching these workshops are always interesting -- to borrow from Forrest Gump, you never know what you're going to get. The nine folks who stuck out the six weeks became friends by the end, and I was quite sad to say goodbye to them.

What do I do to show someone I care? I make food. This workshop was at 1:00, right after lunch, which required me to make DESSERT. For those of you who know me, know that baking and I are a hit and miss. This was a hit!

One of the ladies in the workshop eats lemons. She loves them. I wanted to make something lemony, and to generalize, most older people like pie.

That said, I made mini lemon tarts. The original recipe called for a pine nut crust, which was problematic on two accounts: I am allergic to pine nuts, and I am deathly afraid of pie crust. Thank you Athens mini fillo shells! If you are not a chicken shit like me, this would make for a lovely pie, otherwise, the mini tarts were fabulous.

People tend to feel less guilty when they eat something in mini form. Go figure.

I'll report on farm progress. Cross your fingers for scapes.

I want to try this recipe with limes next time.

Crust makes me quake in fear. These do not.

My makeshift double-boiler.

Blueberries balanced the tartness and added some color.

Mini lemon tarts

adapted from epicurious

1/2 cup lemon juice, about four lemons

2 large eggs, cold

2 large egg yolks, cold

3/4 cup sugar

6 tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

Fillo shells

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place fillo shells on a baking sheet and bake for about five minutes. Remove and set aside. Meanwhile, add about two inches of water to a double-boiler and bring to a boil. If you don't have a double-boiler, as I don't, use a pot that is a bit smaller than your metal bowl so the bowl just fits into the pot.

In the metal bowl, add the sugar, eggs and yolks. Whisk for about 1 minute or until the mixture is smooth. Se the bowl over the pot and stir constantly. You don't want your eggs to curdle! If you can manage the heat, turn your bowl occasionally to avoid hot spots. After about 2 minutes, when your eggs are foamy, add 1/3 of the lemon juice. Continue to stir, stir, stir until the mixture thickens again. Add another 1/3 of the lemon juice and repeat the process. Continue whisking until the mixture is again thickened and add the remaining juice. Whisk until the mixture is thick and light in color. It takes about 8 to 10 minutes in total.

Turn off the heat and leave the bowl over the water. Whisk in the butter a piece at a time. The lemon custard may loosen slightly, but it will thicken as it cools. Spoon the warm custard into the fillo tarts. Let the tarts sit for 1 hour before service to allow them to set up. Serve at room temperature or cold.