strudel-doodle...

catching up part 3... strudel...

no real reason behind making this delicious flaky pastry... well no other reason then because i had a major hankering for one (and i rarely have a hankering for baked fruit)... and since i had some puff pastry on hand i figured why not... sometimes we just have to indulge ourselves, right?!

this was super simple to make... and you can completely tweak it to your own tastes... me, i decided to go simple with apples (2 medium sized honey crisp), cinnamon (1 1/2 tbsp), brown sugar (1/2 cup), homemade raw vanilla sugar(1-2 tsp) and some juicy plump brandy soaked raisins (about 1/4 cup, maybe more)... oh... and butter... gotta have my butter...

once all those ingredients were combined i laid them atop some thawed puff pastry... i know, i know, it's not homemade puff pastry...cause damn that stuff is a biotch to make... i will master it someday (i hope!)... so once atop the thawed and rolled out puff pastry, i sprinkled on a few cubes of salted butter (about 3 tbsps)... then i rolled the puppy up... glazed it with some melted butter (i know, most recipes say to glaze it with egg and water, or egg and milk... but i love me some butter)... and then dusted it with even more of the homemade raw vanilla sugar...


then popped it into a preheated oven and baked it till it was nice and brown and the insides were bubbly... ahh... it smelled amazing... and man, did the raisins really add some awesomeness to it... it was perfectly buttery, flaky and just something that tasted wholesome in each and every bite...

happy baking everyone!

as jack would say... happy love day!

catching up part 2 - valentines day

well... here are some of the valentines day cupcakes i made for me and my boys... of course like almost everyone else out there who baked cupcakes for valentines, i went with red velvet cake... i know, i know... so original... i went with a recipe from the amazingly talented "smitten kitchen"... that woman sure knows how to make me hungry!!

anyways... i love red velvet... but i always under do the red food coloring (so they are more of a deep maroon)... as i've said before too much food coloring and dye just freaks me out a bit... and it freaks me out even more after my four year old ate some SUPER red-dyed cupcakes and his poop was red for two days... not the yummiest thing to write about i know... but i just felt like sharing... :-)

anyways, her recipe was delicious... really moist and soft, with a subtle hint of cocoa, and a lovely tang on the finish... and another shocker... i topped them with cream cheese frosting... well actually a vanilla cream cheese buttercream... you see i'm a fan of both the buttercream and the cream cheese, the hubs, not so much... he doesn't like the overwhelming butter taste... so as i aim to please, i compromised with the cream cheese vanilla bean buttercream... how very nice of me!!

red velvet cake recipe adapted from "smitten kitchen" - yields about 30-35 cupcakes
ingredients:
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water *i used much less then this*
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar.

directions:
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with paper liners
2. whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl
3. place oil and sugar in the bowl of the mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended
4. beat in eggs one at a time
5. with machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring
6. add vanilla
7. add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches, then scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine
8. place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running, and beat for 10 seconds
9. with the liners filled only 3/4 of the way, the baking time should be between 20 to 25 minutes, but check in on them 2/3 of the way through in case your oven gets the job done faster

happy love day, and happy baking everybody!!

happy 1st birthday ben... and we have so much catching up to do!!

catching up... part #1

happy first birthday ben!

i cannot even wrap my head around the fact that my little man is one... where has the time gone... not to mention that my little dude jack is nearing his 5th birthday.... AHHH!!

anyways... we decided to celebrate my little benjamin buttons birthday up at my parents house in new york... we kept it simple with just some yummy appetizers followed by some sweets and treats... i didn't go overboard like i normally do (like when i made 120 cupcakes for jacks 3rd birthday... a fun time, but a little much!)... so i made just a little showpiece cake and about 3 dozen cupcakes... all in cute baby blues and white...

i also did something new for me... i made a cute little bear out of fondant... and not to get all proud, but i have to say i think i did a awesome job!! what do you think?!

the theme was blankets and bears... the reason... ben is a total blanket baby... he cannot be anywhere without his favorite fuzzy blue blanket (he'll probably be taking it to college with him!)... and one of his many nicknames is... are you ready for the mommy cheesieness... "benny boo bear"... i know i know... cheesie...

and for little party favors my mom made little blankets and attached them to some cute little stuffed bears...

how cute is this little guy... its my first ever fondant creation... i think i might have to start doing this more often!! i just love his expression... super cute!!

happy first birthday my benny boo bear... and happy baking everyone!