Monday, April 11, 2011

baking up a storm!!!

my coworker's son was turning 3 (Happy Birthday Ian!!!) and she asked me to make some desserts for the party. i immediately jumped at the chance and began thinking about what i might want to eat at a kids party. red velvet cupcakes were a must and requested by the birthday boy's mom. i then browsed over foodgawker.com to find inspiration for the rest of the desserts. as my mouth salivated while staring at the computer monitor, i found a recipe for banana caramel whoopie pies and then chewy toffee pecan brownies. and then i got excited to start baking up a storm! i decided i'd throw in a tried and true recipe for cobbler as well just because i'm ambitious like that.


red velvet cupcakes
the best red velvet cupcakes in life! you might remember when i made them before!!

banana caramel whoopie pies

banana caramel whoopie pies!


banana caramel whoopie pies  

honestly, i HATE buttercream with a passion and any whoopie pie pretty much requires buttercream or "merengue cream," which is pretty much the same thing. it always tastes like i'm just eating a stick of butter so "no thanks" on that. when we were at the party people asked what they were and i felt obliged to say "there is a TON of butter in this but if you like buttercream you'll like it. if you don't like buttercream then stay away!" the cookies itself tasted good and the merengue cream had a good caramel flavor after i added a whole cup of caramel (the original recipe asks for 1/2c).

ingredients:

for the caramel sauce:

1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
pinch of fleur de sel
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water

for the cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup mashed banana (about 1-1½ bananas)
½ cup sour cream
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract

for the filling:
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1 tbsp. pieces, at room temperature
1 cup caramel sauce (above)

directions for caramel sauce:

1. put sugar, corn syrup and water in a medium sized pot on high heat
2. mix so that all the sugar is coated in water
3. let the mixture boil and upon boiling swirl the pot on the stove until the mixture turns a deep amber color
4. take the mixture off the heat and add butter and heavy cream
5. the mixture will violently bubble. put it back on the stove and stir it around for about 2 minutes.
6. pour caramel sauce in a heat safe container (a glass jar) to cool

directions for cookies:

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. in a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and set aside
3. in a small bowl mix banana and sour cream
4. in a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
5. beat in egg and vanilla
6. on low speed alternate beating in the flour mixture and the banana mixture ending with the flour mixture until just incorporated.
7. pipe the batter on to cookie sheets lined with parchment paper in 1 1/4" rounds about 2 inches apart from one another.
8. bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms just barely begin to brown
9. let them sit on the cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to completely cool.

directions for filling:

1. combine egg whites and sugar in a heat safe bowl and place over a pot of simmering water
2. keep whisking the mixture until the temperature is 160 degrees F and the sugar is completely melted
3. transfer to a bowl and whip until the mixture forms high peaks when you pull the whisk out from the bowl
4. add salt and butter mixing in one piece at a time. make sure to beat well after each addition.
5. stir in 1 cup of the cooled caramel sauce until completely incorporated



toffee pecan brownies

Toffee Pecan Brownies

these brownies were so effing chewy good!! the addition of toffee and pecans are never a bad thing either!!


ingredients:

1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons boiling water
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons canola oil
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup toffee bits (I used Heath bits)
3/4 cup chopped pecans

directions:

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. line a 9"x13" baking pan with parchment paper (this step is important. if you don't then it'll be very hard to get the brownies out without them breaking) and spray with cooking spray.
3. whisk together cocoa powder and espresso powder with boiling water until fully mixed
4. add in chocolate and mix until competely melted and smooth
5. whisk in butter, canola oil and sugar
6. add eggs and vanilla and whisk until smooth
7. with a spatula mix in flour and salt until just barely combined.
8. fold in pecans and toffee bits
9. pour in to lined baking pan and bake for approx. 35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
10. put pan on a wire rack and allow to cool completely (about 2 hrs).
11. using the parchment paper, lift the brownies out of the pan
12. cut and enjoy!



blueberry strawberry cobbler




Blueberry Strawberry Cobbler-

it's not the most appetizing looking of desserts but it tastes really good, i promise!! depending on the fruit it can be tart or sweet. this one turned out to be kind of tart but i like that. served with some whipped cream or ice cream and it's perfect for a summer picnic or bbq!


(adapted from this recipe) -i've made the original recipe with strawberry and rhubarb and it was insanely good! i added an extra cup of each as the fruit content wasn't enough to fill the bottom of my pan.

ingredients:

1 c white sugar
4 tbs flour
4 c strawberries quartered
4 c blueberries (i used frozen)
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 c packed brown sugar
1 c butter (1 stick), melted
1 c rolled oats

directions:

1. preheat oven to  375 degrees F
2. in your baking pan, mix together strawberries, blueberries, white sugar and flour and spread evenly
3. in a bowl mix together flour, brown sugar, oats and melted butter until crumbly.
4. even distribute crumb topping over the berry mixture
5. bake for about 45 minutes or until the crumb topping is browned and crisp.





No comments:

Post a Comment