almond turtles

When it comes to Halloween I feel like it is a great excuse to eat sweets, candy in particular. But I'm not very interested in the mini-sized supermarket / convenient store standards. This year, after watching an episode of Giada at Home, I decided to make almond turtles. These were beyond easy to make. And so very delicious! The one change I made was using salted almonds instead of the the smoked almonds called for in the recipe. These made pretty huge turtles and the next time I make these will try them in mini muffin pans instead of the standard size. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind devouring the giant candy but I think it would be best slightly smaller. I think these might make an appearance in my holiday goody containers I make each year. Go here for the recipe.

halloween cookies

It is obvious that this post should have been yesterday, is my daughter at six month an excuse? I keep promising that I will get more regular with my postings. Not letting a month go in between. Well without further delay...halloween cookies. I used my standard sugar cookie recipe, cut them out with this very spooky spider cut out and decorated them with black royal icing. While shopping, the ease of parking has definitely become more of a priority with little miss. I find myself at deCroupte's ,a cake shop with tons of parking, to purchase everything from cake boxes to cookie cutter.

pumpkin bread

As soon as the calender turns to the tenth month I pull out all my stored away pumpkin recipes. Pumpkin bread is definitely one of the first I make. It makes the whole house smell like autumn. I've been enjoying the recipe you can find on the back of the Libby's canned pumpkin puree but the ingredients lead more toward cake than bread. In the morning I want to at least think I'm eating a little healthy. I adjusted a few ingredients with great results. I know what you are thinking, 3 cups of sugar...healthy...let's just say healthier.

Pumpkin Bread
adapted from Libby's canned pumpkin puree
2 Cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 Cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbl pumpkin spice
dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 Tbl salt
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 Cup brown sugar
1 15 oz pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
1/2 Cup applesauce
1/2 Cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper
Combine flour through cinnamon in large bowl. In another bowl combine sugar through orange juice and mix with wire whisk. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stir until moistened. Spoon into prepared pans.
Bake 50 - 70 minutes or until wooden pick is inserted into center and comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks.

salted butter caramel sauce

So it's still be insanely hot these last few weeks and the fire might now be officially out in the foothills behind us but we are still finding ash on our cars in the morning. Needless to say it hasn't been baking weather. I'm hoping for fall temperatures to arrive soon, I have some baking to do!

This caramel sauce came in handy to pour over chocolate ice cream I had made. I think I could have drank the sauce I loved it so much!

Salted Butter Caramel Sauce
from The Perfect Scoop
by David Lebovitz
6 Tbl butter, salted or unsalted
3/4 Cup sugar
1 Cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (i used fluer de sel)

Melt butter in large, deep heavy-duty saucepan or Dutch oven. Stir in the sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar is deep golden brown and starts to smoke.
Remove from the heat and immediately whisk in half of the cream until smooth (wear an oven mitt, since the mixture will steam and splatter and may bubble up furiously). Stir in the rest of the cream, then the vanilla and salt. If there are any lumps of caramel, whisk the sauce gently over low heat until they're dissolved. Serve warm. Makes 1 1/2 Cups

ginger scones

There is a place nearby in Pasadena called Euro Pane. They've got a lot of things going for them and one of their cult followings is their ginger scones. From what I understand, the baker/owner use to work at La Brea Bakery before opening up her own place. This recipe comes from La Brea Bakery via epicurious.com. The shape of these scones are different from those you'll find at Euro Pane but the taste is almost identical.

Ginger Scones
adapted from epicurious.com
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
11 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whipping cream
2/3 cup diced crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bowl of a food processor combine flour, sugar, baking soda and grated lemon, blend. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a large bowl and toss in ginger. Make a well in the center and add 3/4 cup of cream, or like I did, rush and add the 2 tablespoons as well. Mix until moist with fork or hands. Transfer to a floured surface and knead dough 8-10 times. Divide dough in half and pat each portion into 3/4 inch thick round. Cut rounds into 6 wedges each and transfer to baking sheet. If you have those 2 tablespoons of whipping cream left, brush the tops of the scones. Bake until lightly browned, about 18 minutes.

Creamiest Lime Cream Tart

My friend Linda over at Tender Crumb (www.tendercrumb.blogspot.com) has finally gotten her turn at picking the weekly recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie, Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie. I first heard about the blog from her, a few months after its inception. And though I participated for awhile, I dropped out. When I saw that it was Linda’s week to choose a recipe I had to join in. And I thank Linda for picking this recipe because I never would have. I’m not a fan of meringue and would have figured it was another boring All-American pie, I much prefer the French style as Dorie compares the two in her book. But when I saw that the recipe for the lime portion was very similar to her recipe for The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart, I was excited. I did a little fooling around with it. I made the graham cracker crust and used a rectangular tart pan and two very small tartlet pans and filled it with the lime cream; and just omitted the meringue portion. Oh My!!! It is that good! The hint of ginger is perfection. If this didn’t have a total of 2 sticks of butter, in the crust and the cream, I think I could happily sit down with a fork and devour the entire tart. Thanks so much Linda for choosing this recipe!
The recipes that follows is for the pie, just omit the meringue for the tart

Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie
From Baking: From My Home To Yours By Dorie Greenspan

Makes 8 servings

FOR THE FILLING
1 cup sugar
Grated zest of 3 limes
4 large eggs, preferably at room temp
¾ cup fresh lime juice (from about 6 limes)
A 1 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 ½ sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces, at room temperature

Getting ready: Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processor at hand.
Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.
put the sugar and zest into a heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest between your fingertips for a few minutes, until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lime is strong.
Whisk in the eggs, then whisk in the juice, ginger and cornstarch.
Set the bowl over the pan and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the lime cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As you whisk- you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling – you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point – the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience – depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.
As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain the cream into the container of the blender (or food processor); discard the rest.
Let it cool until it reaches 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.
Turn the blender to high speed (or turn on the processor) and add the butter a few pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. After all the butter is in, continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If you find the machine is getting really hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest in between beats.
Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface and refrigerate the cream for at least 4 hours, or overnight. (The cream can be packed airtight and frozen for up to 2 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.)


Graham Cracker Crust
makes a 9-inch crust

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted


Butter a 9-inch pie plate.
Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Turn the ingredients into the pan and use your fingers to pay an even layer of crumbs over the bottom of the pan. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven. (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)
Center a rack in the over, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack.


FOR THE MERINGUE
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
½ cup sugar

To finish the pie with the meringue: Preheat the broiler.
Whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the pie shell. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet.
Working in a clean dry mixer bowl with the clean whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, whip the egg whites at medium speed until opaque. With the mixer running , add the sugar in a slow stream and continue to beat until the whites are glossy and form firm peaks.
Spread the meringue over the lime filling, swirling it if you’d like. Make sure the meringue comes all the way to the edges of the crust, because it will shrink when it bakes.
Run the pie under the broiler until the meringue is golden and the tips are dark brown. Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool for about 15 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

coffee chocolate chip ice cream

This summer has been strange here in Southern California. June found us with mostly overcast skies and even days with drizzle. In July we had some scorching days and now that it's August it is a bit humid but not too hot, thank goodness. I did go on an ice cream kick during those hot days. One of my favorite ice creams in coffee with heath bar bits mixed in, mmm mmm mmm. I took the vanilla ice cream recipe I've been using lately and added a heaping tablespoon of instant espresso when I was dissolving the sugar into the milk. And then at the end of the ice cream mixing in the ice cream machine, I added 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips that I had coarsely chopped. I was quite please with the results but next time I'm definitely heading to the store to pick up a heath bar and try that.

Coffee Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
adapted from David Lebovitz recipe
1 Cup Whole Milk
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1 heaping Tablespoon Instant Espresso
pinch of salt
6 Large Egg Yolks
3/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 dark chocolate chips, coarsely chopped

Warm the milk, sugar, espresso, half of the cream and salt in a medium saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Set aside. Pour remaining cream in a large bowl with a mesh strainer on top. In a separate medium bowl, whisk egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scrapping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Add the vanilla extract and stir until cool over an ice bath. Chill in the refrigerator. When ready to churn, add the chopped chocolate. Follow manufacturer's instructions for your ice cream.