Thanksgiving Hustle

Ah Thanksgiving- the rush to get into the turkey line at our local Wilson Farms and combat the grumpy drivers in the mad series of rotaries on the way home. Then the massive cooking conquest followed by a victorious feeding frenzy. 

A perfect place for me to interject with a dessert or two. :)

My fathers favorite is apple pie, so that was a must- classic! I never have very much luck doing it with a top crust as well, so I stuck with just a bottom one. To avoid drying and burning, I covered it with aluminum foil half way through. 

You can never have enough apples!

Apple Pie

Crust:

2 c. flour

1/2t. salt

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. cold water

Filling:

5-6 apples (granny smith, or mix some sweeter ones if you like) the size of your pie tin will also determine exactly how many you will need. 

1/4 c. sugar (or you can replace some of this with honey- its a good experiment)

2 t. cinnamon (I always go a little crazy though)

1/2 t. ground cloves (these are mostly for the scent, so if you don't like them, don't add them)

1/4 c. raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Combine all of the ingredients for the crust in a bowl until it forms a smooth dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill while you prepare the rest. 

Peel and cut the apples into slices. Mix in the dry ingredients and toss until all the pieces are evenly covered. 

Depending on how soft your dough is (mine was very soft) you can press it into the bottom of your pan with your hands. If not you can use a rolling pin and roll it out. Press into the bottom of the pan and fill with the apple mixture. 

Bake at 425F for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 350. Depending on the size of your pie, bake for 40-60 minutes (check on it at 30, then check every 10 minutes or so). If you find it is getting to dry on the top, cover with aluminum foil half way through. 

You can top it with something too- maybe crumble topping if thats your thing, or try a top crust (mine just always burns or dries out ... it just never wants to behave). But give it a try- be adventurous!

Turkeys

So there is a lot of turkey killing at Thanksgiving, so as a tribute (or somewhat satirical mocking, I am not sure which) I made some thanksgiving turkey cupcakes!

Gobble, Gobble!

Cupcakes

For the cupcakes I used the same recipe as the election-night cupcakes (check the archives). Its a basic devils food cake recipe and works wonderfully!  So follow that. 

For the decoration:

Buttercream Frosting

1 c. unsalted butter, softened

6 c. powdered sugar (you may need a little bit more or a tiny bit less depending on how stiff it becomes or how stiff you want it to be)

1/2 c. milk

2 t. vanilla extract

Mix it all up in a large bowl with an electric mixer until its completely smooth. Its very sweet! Its good for decorations, but if you are going to use it on a cake, it may be a little overbearing. 

I mixed in some food coloring and used Oreos (ok... mock Oreos) for the eyes. Serves me right for buying mock Oreos- they didn't want to split cleanly.... Tack on the oreos with the white side up for the eyes, then pipe on the feathers in one color. Make a yellow beak, eyes, and a red dangly thing. You can keep going with decorating the feathers. GO CRAZY!

13 poor turkeys this thanksgiving.... all eaten and enjoyed. 

Ironically, no one in my family is all that fond of the real thanksgiving turkey....

A Second Try

Bunt Cake 2.0

Since I started this blog, my "weekly" biscotti making turned into bi-monthly. I guess I have been inspired to try new things, which is always a good idea, but there is nothing like a good old favorite. 

Almond Anise Biscotti

2 c. flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1/2 c. almonds (whole or sliced)

2 T. milk

1 t. anise seeds

2 t. vanilla extract OR 1 t. almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350F. 

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and using either your hands or a food processor, mix until it forms a firm dough.

Split the dough into two parts and roll them into logs. Flatten them slightly and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Carefully cut the logs diagonally into slices between 1/2 and 1/4 inch thick, depending on how big you want them. Place them back onto the baking sheet upright and reduce the oven to 325F. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. They will become harder as they cool down, so don't worry if they don't break your teeth just yet. 

You can do tons of stuff with these! You can pretty much use the recipe as a canvas. You can put dried fruits, different nuts and extracts, cocoa powder, dip them in chocolate- whatever! I haven't tried making them savory yet- I am very content with these, but there is room to explore. 

Enjoy with some coffee!

A Treat for Bunt Day!

Mommy! The dustbunnies ate my homework!

Or rather- the dustbunnies were my homework. But as always, a break is needed from working and in honor of National bunt cake day I made a simple and delicious chocolate cake. Besides the fact that I often feel cheated out of the middle of my cake, the bunt is a fun cake and the favorite of my roommate.

Chocolate Bunt

1 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. melted butter

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. cocoa powder

1 egg

1 egg white

2 T. warm water

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Then add the wet ingredients and mix until it forms a smooth batter (it may be a little thick, which is good, but if its way too dry, add a tablespoon of water at a time until its right). A hand mixer is best to avoid getting clumps of flour, but my well-equipped college apartment just has a trusty fork to do the job. 

Lightly grease a bunt pan and pour the batter in, spreading evenly. Pop it into the oven for about 30-35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. 

When its done, allow it to cool a little before turning it out onto a plate. Sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top for an easy elegant look, or drizzle with just about anything. I was thinking about filling the middle with some sort of cream and fruit- why not fill the void?

nom nom nom

Frilly Hats

Maybe it was an Anne of Green Gables inspiration.... maybe I just really wanted to decorate something, and what is better to decorate than sugar cookies? Like a blank canvas... just wait until I attempt some fall leaves, then the gingerbread house... if it needs decorating, I'm your girl.

Sugar Cookies

10 T. butter, softened

60 g. powdered sugar (I reduce the sugar a lot in my recipes, but if you like them a little sweeter, go up to 80g or so)

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 t. baking powder

2 T. milk 

1 egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the butter, milk and egg and mix with a food processor or your hands. At this point, you can add food coloring to the dough to make it fun colors. I used red, blue and yellow. 

On a clean surface, roll your dough out flat so you can cut shapes. For the hats I used two different sized glasses. Rolling the dough out is tricky, as I learned... I had someone else do it....

Pop them into the oven for about 12 minutes (but! it depends on how thick they are. Keep an eye! They may take as little as 7 minutes if they are paper thin!) I browned my first batch... 

For decorating you can use your favorite frosting mixed with a little food coloring. My roommate and I had a great time decorating these! This would be a great activity for kids too... but it keeps me pretty preoccupied as well. We used toothpicks, so the decorating was a little rough around the edges. Next time I will bring my pipette set with me (that's when all hell breaks loose).

It inspired me to think of some other fun shapes and forms I could make cookies into. 3D hanging snowflakes maybe? Hey, with a little innovation anything is possible!

Happy decorating! 

Election Night

Plain-old truffles of awesome

A little late but....The election was so exciting! My roommates and I were so riled up that we decided to put together a little party (aka, homework in front of the TV) for Tuesday night. It was a successful evening, from the first state to Obamas' speech at the end. 

To celebrate, we made all things wonderful- truffles and cupcakes! The truffles were made with a simple recipe that ends up making more squishy truffles. Ideally they should be frozen THEN coated in chocolate, or rolled in something to keep them hard. These kept their shape well enough- we just didn't have the energy to keep going with them.

The ones above are plain-ol truffles- the recipe coated in cocoa powder. The mini muffin cups were perfect for these!

Orange truffles

Chocolate Truffles (makes a lot)

250g. bittersweet chocolate (or whatever one of those bags are at the supermarket- I usually use Ghirardelli, but you can use whatever you prefer)

2c. powdered sugar

1 package cream cheese (if you want to trim these down a little, you can use low fat or fat free       cream cheese- you won't be able to taste the difference)

1/4c. cocoa powder

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Set aside to cool down a little. Meanwhile, combine the cream cheese, cocoa and powdered sugar until it forms a dough. Stir in the melted chocolate until fully combine. At this point you can add flavors- I added orange extract). Put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set. Once it is set, coat your hands in a little powdered sugar or cocoa to keep the chocolate from sticking. Roll into 3/4" balls and then roll into either powdered sugar or cocoa (cocoa works better). If you want, you can freeze them after rolling, then coat them in chocolate. Let them set in the refrigerator for a couple hours or overnight on the counter. Watch them disappear. 

We also made some decorate-yourself cupcakes for the election using, admittedly, canned frosting. But that's how it should be. 

Chocolate Cupcakes (makes about 12, maybe a couple more)

1 1/2c. flour

2t. baking powder

1/2t. salt

3/4t. baking soda

10T. butter, softened

1c. sugar

2/3 to 1c. cocoa powder

2 eggs

1 1/3 c. warm water. 

Preheat the oven to 325F. Combine the first four ingredients and the cocoa powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the butter, sugar and eggs. Combine the dry with the wet and add the water, stirring until fully combined. Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

These cupcakes were perfectly moist, not too sweet so they complimented the super sugary frosting, and can definitely be used for all sorts of deserts, not just cupcakes.

The election was awesome. We were all buzzed on sugar and happy and sleepy by the end of it. I hope everyone else had an equally exciting evening!