This week we made Creme Caramel.
(I'll add the photo tonight)
It seemed impressive but was really easy put together-fast too! I must have cooked my caramel too long, most of it stuck to the ramekin. Other than that I had mixed reviews. From the reviewers who like custard: it was fabulous! From the reviewers who do not like custard: it had a weird texture. (I'm in this group, custard is just creepy to me...)
overall: if you like custard this recipe is easy and has a great flavor!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Oatmeal Scones
This week we made oatmeal scones.
I love scones, I make them all the time. I have made a few of the recipes in this book, this was not a keeper for me. It was a little too oaty tasting (we toasted the oats and that certainly enhanced the oat flavor). They were not terrible, I just prefer them without the oatmeal I think. However, I must confess, I did not have whole milk or cream so I used all skim milk, that might have been a problem. All in all, my taste testers said they were fine but not to make them a second time.
I love scones, I make them all the time. I have made a few of the recipes in this book, this was not a keeper for me. It was a little too oaty tasting (we toasted the oats and that certainly enhanced the oat flavor). They were not terrible, I just prefer them without the oatmeal I think. However, I must confess, I did not have whole milk or cream so I used all skim milk, that might have been a problem. All in all, my taste testers said they were fine but not to make them a second time.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Pumpkin Sheet Cake
This week was my week to host and I selected pumpkin sheet cake. Just two weeks ago we made pumpkin bread but I had a request for a pumpkin dessert for a party so I picked a pumpkin recipe again.
Visualize Picture Here (my ipad has the photos, it is dead, we are in the middle of a major move, I will find my charger tomorrow and get the photos uploaded!!!) (and they are really cute, I cut the cake into squares and piped a swirl of the frosting on top of each one)
I was a little skeptical but in the end, I had rave reviews. In fact, everyone asked for the recipe-this was surprising because I have tons of great recipes that no one ever asks for! Based on my experience with the pumpkin bread I went ahead and doubled the spices (so that is the recipe I'm now reporting)
I also had rave rave rave reviews on the cream cheese frosting. In fact, I'm not sure that there was anything special about the cake but everyone loved the frosting. It was less dense than normal cream cheese frosting, not too sweet, and I totally loved it! (Not too surprising as I love most cream cheese frosting.) I would absolutely recommend this frosting recipe to go with the cake!
All in all, I was totally but wonderfully shocked by the reception of the cake. Everyone loved it, it was gone in a few minutes, even my 5 year old niece who only eats cinnamon toast crunch and eggs sunny side up (not exaggerating) asked to save a piece for her lunch the next day. An added bonus, this recipe is super easy and fast! And one last piece of evidence, O ate some and said it was a 7.8 on a scale of 1 to 10 (I don't think he has ever rated anything above a 1.5)
Pumpkin Sheet Cake: 2 c flour
4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 2/3 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
4 c cream cheese frosting (I only used 2 cups)
-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Whisk dry ingredients together.
-Beat sugar, oil, and eggs together on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 min. Reduce speed to low and add pumpkin until combined, then add in flour mixture and mix just until incorporated.
-Scrape into pan and bake 30-35 min or until toothpick comes out with a few crumbs. Let cool in pan for 2 hours.
-Frost and serve
Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese softened
10 Tbsp unsalted butter cut into chunks and softened
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 c confectioners' sugar
-beat cream cheese, butter, sour cream, vanilla, and salt on high speed until smooth, 2-3 min.
-Reduce speed to low and slowly beat in sugar, beat until light and fluffy.
Visualize Picture Here (my ipad has the photos, it is dead, we are in the middle of a major move, I will find my charger tomorrow and get the photos uploaded!!!) (and they are really cute, I cut the cake into squares and piped a swirl of the frosting on top of each one)
I was a little skeptical but in the end, I had rave reviews. In fact, everyone asked for the recipe-this was surprising because I have tons of great recipes that no one ever asks for! Based on my experience with the pumpkin bread I went ahead and doubled the spices (so that is the recipe I'm now reporting)
I also had rave rave rave reviews on the cream cheese frosting. In fact, I'm not sure that there was anything special about the cake but everyone loved the frosting. It was less dense than normal cream cheese frosting, not too sweet, and I totally loved it! (Not too surprising as I love most cream cheese frosting.) I would absolutely recommend this frosting recipe to go with the cake!
All in all, I was totally but wonderfully shocked by the reception of the cake. Everyone loved it, it was gone in a few minutes, even my 5 year old niece who only eats cinnamon toast crunch and eggs sunny side up (not exaggerating) asked to save a piece for her lunch the next day. An added bonus, this recipe is super easy and fast! And one last piece of evidence, O ate some and said it was a 7.8 on a scale of 1 to 10 (I don't think he has ever rated anything above a 1.5)
Pumpkin Sheet Cake: 2 c flour
4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 2/3 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
4 c cream cheese frosting (I only used 2 cups)
-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Whisk dry ingredients together.
-Beat sugar, oil, and eggs together on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 min. Reduce speed to low and add pumpkin until combined, then add in flour mixture and mix just until incorporated.
-Scrape into pan and bake 30-35 min or until toothpick comes out with a few crumbs. Let cool in pan for 2 hours.
-Frost and serve
Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese softened
10 Tbsp unsalted butter cut into chunks and softened
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 c confectioners' sugar
-beat cream cheese, butter, sour cream, vanilla, and salt on high speed until smooth, 2-3 min.
-Reduce speed to low and slowly beat in sugar, beat until light and fluffy.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
French Toast!
This week we made french toast. The recipe was for a make ahead french toast that sits in the pan for 8 hours than you bake it. I was a wee bit nervous this would make for soggy bread (which is something I direly dislike). When I read a few reviews this morning my fears were all confirmed. I got home from work and stoically mixed up the egg/milk/cinnamon stuff and thought-well perhaps if I don't let it sit (which I did not have time to do anyways) it will be OK. If not-well, I halved the recipe so it was not a terrible waste. L was over (actually she did the mixing whilst I stood around deliberating) and she said-"Just make it like regular french toast". So, I did. We had very low expectations. I love french toast, but restaurant french toast is always better. I started getting into it though and made some white syrup (next time I'll go with buttermilk syrup as this was a bit rich), breakfast potatoes, and O made his microwave bacon. All in all it was.... fabulous! It was as good as if not better than in a restaurant!
L (who ALWAYS orders french toast) confirmed this. O not only ate it, he ate several pieces and said it was "extremely tasty" (I don't think he has ever said that before, but then, he also complimented his bacon a bunch so maybe he was in an ebullient mood).
All in all-with the modifications, which were somewhat extreme, this was an incredible french toast recipe! The secret must lie in both the bread and the batter. The dry french bread (I did not toast it, just used a loaf of french bread that was a few days old) was perfect-not soggy, and the egg mix had a nice amount of sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
I will use this recipe again!
L (who ALWAYS orders french toast) confirmed this. O not only ate it, he ate several pieces and said it was "extremely tasty" (I don't think he has ever said that before, but then, he also complimented his bacon a bunch so maybe he was in an ebullient mood).
All in all-with the modifications, which were somewhat extreme, this was an incredible french toast recipe! The secret must lie in both the bread and the batter. The dry french bread (I did not toast it, just used a loaf of french bread that was a few days old) was perfect-not soggy, and the egg mix had a nice amount of sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
I will use this recipe again!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Deep Dish Pizza
This week our recipe was deep dish pizza and it was fabulous!
I am a pizza lover! I make pizza at least once a week, have tried a hundred different recipes. and this is a good one. Its also fast and easy!
(I should have taken it more from the side so you could check out the awesome deep dish crust!)
I have made this recipe a few times before and so I made a few modifications-not as much oil, less cheese. My main recommendation is make their sauce-it is hands down the best sauce I have tried (but I add a few Tbsp of sugar and some red pepper flakes).
My other two tasters loved it. O actually ate it (he generally goes for pizza) and L said, while not as good as the regular pizza recipe in the book, it was great.
Check out the recipe and other reviews!
I am a pizza lover! I make pizza at least once a week, have tried a hundred different recipes. and this is a good one. Its also fast and easy!
I have made this recipe a few times before and so I made a few modifications-not as much oil, less cheese. My main recommendation is make their sauce-it is hands down the best sauce I have tried (but I add a few Tbsp of sugar and some red pepper flakes).
My other two tasters loved it. O actually ate it (he generally goes for pizza) and L said, while not as good as the regular pizza recipe in the book, it was great.
Check out the recipe and other reviews!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Crunchy Granola Bars
This week we made crunchy granola bars
The results were mixed.
First off, it was an easy recipe, and I literally made granola bars!
However, I'm not sure Nature Valley should be worried...
I thought they were a little burned (but that might have been my own fault), a little dry (I was 1/4 cup short on the honey), a little boring (I only had half the needed amount of nuts), and a little overly sweet (now that was not my fault). But, they were not terrible, I might try them again with (a) the proper ingredients and (b) some additional things like maybe craisins!
Totally mixed reviews though-my sister said they almost killed there they were so sweet, O thought they were horrid (typical), my cousin was quite interested, and a new taste panel-my two older brothers totally loved them! They might be my new testers, they ate almost the entire pan and thought they were wonderful. Who would have guessed!
check out the recipe and other reviews!
First off, it was an easy recipe, and I literally made granola bars!
However, I'm not sure Nature Valley should be worried...
I thought they were a little burned (but that might have been my own fault), a little dry (I was 1/4 cup short on the honey), a little boring (I only had half the needed amount of nuts), and a little overly sweet (now that was not my fault). But, they were not terrible, I might try them again with (a) the proper ingredients and (b) some additional things like maybe craisins!
Totally mixed reviews though-my sister said they almost killed there they were so sweet, O thought they were horrid (typical), my cousin was quite interested, and a new taste panel-my two older brothers totally loved them! They might be my new testers, they ate almost the entire pan and thought they were wonderful. Who would have guessed!
check out the recipe and other reviews!
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