egg nog creme brulee

i have been thinking about – nay, craving – egg nog for a couple weeks now, and when that starts to happen, there’s only one solution. i need to make it, and eat it.

but you know me, nothing is straightforward around here (and my egg nog recipe calls for 12 egg yolks, which was freaking me out a little), so i decided to make egg nog-flavored creme brulee instead.

i have a beautiful creme brulee set – a little torch and four pretty ramekins – that i don’t use nearly as much as i’d like to, so here was the perfect opportunity.

um, yeah. perfect.

it was… awesome. creamy. egg nog-y. just what i wanted.

don’t be scared by creme brulee. it’s really not as hard as it sounds.

there are many ways to go about it, but the simplest technique is to heat one cup of cream with two tablespoons of sugar in a small pot over medium heat. you’re watching for tiny bubbles to start forming.

in the meantime, beat two egg yolks with a teaspoon of vanilla and a tablespoon of bourbon until they are light and fluffy.

(i don’t have pictures here because the process moves so quickly..sorry!)

(also, save those egg whites! i like to add a single whole egg, beat them up, and make slightly healthier scrambled eggs for breakfast the next day.)

then, place four ramekins in a high-sided baking dish.

when little bubbles start forming in the cream and the yolks are betten, get a sous chef to pour the cream mixture into the eggs in a slow stream while you keep whisking. (this shouldn’t be hard if you bribe him with a finished one.) this keeps the eggs from scrambling.

add a sprinkling of nutmeg, and divide the mixture evenly into the ramekins. (i transfer it into a pyrex with a pour spout first for ease.)

then add some boiling water to the pan around the ramekins and VERY CAREFULLY move the entire set-up into the oven.

bake at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes or until set. you can tap the centers gently to check on doneness.

once they come out of the oven, chill them, and before serving, brulee the tops. (instructions here)

ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons white sugar
two egg yolks
teaspoon vanilla
tablespoon bourbon
grated nutmeg to taste (about a half teaspoon)

chocolate dipped pretzels

one of my favorite snacks – the salt and sugar together is just so fabulous.

not that it matters, but i should really call them chocolate-covered pretzels, because as you’ll see, there wasn’t any dipping.

but let’s start at the beginning.

pretzel sticks, chocolate chips, crushed candy canes, and very large-grained red and white sugar.

i melted the chocolate chips (one whole bag plus a couple extra squares i had around covered two 10-ounce bags of pretzels) in a bowl over simmering water (because i don’t have a double-boiler!).

then, instead of dipping, we (those are mama cooks’ hands!) used the spatula to smooth chocolate over the pretzel.

then i sprinkled candy cane or sugar over each one.

set on a piece of wax paper and let them dry for about a day. if you need them quicker, throw them in the fridge.

and don’t toss the broken pieces! you can coat them, too.

so good. they went fast!

fruit snacks a.k.a. gummy candy

you know how intrigued i get when i can make something that is generally bought… junior mints, fig newtons, marshmallows, bagels, fortune cookies, pasta, yogurt, etc.

so when i saw a recipe for fruit snacks, i had to try it the very same day.

but let’s be honest here. there is nothing even remotely “fruit” about these snacks. let’s call them what they are – gummy candy.

they take a stomach-churning amount of gelatin, but whether you know it’s in there or not, you’re still ingesting it when you eat this kind of product, so for my part, i’d rather know than not. and if i make them at home, i also know there are no additional preservatives or chemicals or whatever.

and the process really couldn’t be simpler.

in a small pan over medium heat, mix 1/3 cup water, one packet any flavor jello you fancy, and two .25-ounce envelopes of unflavored gelatin.

stir very well until mixture is hot and completely dissolved.

pour in to molds (i poured into a pyrex measuring cup first so it was easier to pour into the molds, a.k.a. a small ice cube tray).

let harden, first on the counter, then finish in the fridge. original recipe said it only takes about 30 minutes total, but mine took a little longer.

when they first come out of their molds, they are a little sticky. you could try rolling each one in a little sugar to be more like a gum drop, or just leave them out and they dry.

they definitely had a super-gummy texture, and weren’t as sweet as a traditional fruit snack. we ate a whole bunch of them at first, but got sick of them pretty quickly.

i don’t think i’ll be making them again, but i’m glad i did it once!

s’more chocolate chip cookies

sometimes, as you know, i get these crazy little kitchen project ideas in my head from god knows where and i can’t get rid of them until i execute. like the dream cake.

this time it was a crazy s’more and chocolate chip cookie mashup.

so, what do you think?

i started with a roll of pre-made cookie dough. I KNOW. SUE ME. it was a thursday night and i had to be at champagne thursday in an hour.

and a bag of marshmallows and some chocolate chips and a box of graham crackers.

i laid out some small-sized cupcake papers on a baking sheet

and filled each one with a small scoop of cookie dough and pressed it out a little.

then i baked them about half-way done

next, i sprinkled the tops with some crushed graham cracker crumbs (trying to get that “s’more flavor”), some extra chocolate chips, and a piece of marshmallow.

then back in the oven to finish baking and to brown the marshmallow.

then, just because i was having fun, i decided to whip out the creme brulee torch…

to see if i could brown the tops a little more. unfortunately, the tops scorched and the paper went up in flames. whee!!

good thing i only tried that on one…. the rest were devoured.

pina colada cupcakes

to amuse ourselves, my coworker (a fabulous, almost-professional baker) and i decided to do a cupake throwdown.

the theme was cocktails, and after consulting with my consultant, i decided to go with pina colada.

i started with my favorite basic yellow cake recipe, and added one can crushed pineapple –

drained VERY well!

– and rum extract.

i went with rum extract over rum itself because i was concerned about adding too much extra liquid to the batter, and i thought i’d need less extract for more flavor.

unfortunately, i didn’t think they tasted very rum-y at all, despite the fact that i used the whole bottle. other people disagreed.

(i had extra batter, so i made some minis and a small cake, too.)

anyway, then i made coconut butter cream frosting (regular butter cream with coconut extract) and topped them with shredded coconut.

to emphasize the cocktail theme, i also added a maraschino cherry (drained and dried VERY well so it didn’t run into the frosting) and an umbrella!

the competition:

orange-ginger mojitos.

they came with straws!!!

nutella cookies

how can you possibly go wrong?

and so simple, too.

mix together one cup nutella (i always have a super large container on-hand thanks to MSP), 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 egg, a teaspoon of vanilla, and a pinch of salt.

(don’t try to mix in a too-small bowl. rookie mistake.)

shape into one-inch balls, place on lined or greased cookie sheet, and press flat-ish.

my dough felt a teeny bit dry, but it still worked.

bake at 350 for about 7 minutes.

it’s really hard to tell when these suckers are done. i recommend erring on the side of under-done. mine were crunchy on the edges and chewy on the inside, and i would say i baked them a minute or two too long.

problem is you can’t see when they start to brown, and by the time they feel hard to the touch they are definitely over done.

but even though i would have wanted them a little softer myself, they were a huge hit.

you know you want one!

recipe adapted from tasty kitchen.

almond macaroons

when the cat’s away, the mice will… make things with nuts in them.

i had a bag of almond meal (aka almond flour) that i’ve been dying to turn into almond macaroons.

now, these are not the fancy, color-coordinated french macaroons popping up at every other wedding these days. they are plain in color and chewy. you may have seen them in an italian bakery, and often they are covered with pignoli (pine nuts).

the recipe is simple and flourless, so it’s a good one for those gluten-free friends out there.

start by separating three eggs, and beating the whites for about three minutes or until medium-stiff peaks form. you can test it by lifting the beater out and seeing how easily the tip of the peak falls. it should look sort of like this:

(feel free to throw out the yolks, or make custard…)

then beat in one cup of sugar, a pinch of salt, and almond extract if you have it. i didn’t, so i used vanilla. it changed the flavor of the final product (obvi), but not necessarily in a bad way. especially if you like vanilla.

once the mixture thickens a little, fold in one and a half cups of almond meal.

it was really hard to take a picture of “folding” with one hand while doing it with other, so just think of it as scooping from under the batter and folding over the top. you don’t want to mix it vigorously. fold until just mixed, and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

when you are ready to shape and bake the macaroons, you can either spoon dollops of batter on to your cookie sheets, or you can pipe it with a piping bag and the biggest tip you have. i actually didn’t use a tip at all, because i don’t have a very large one and it doesn’t matter if they’re a little rustic.

cover with pignoli, garnish with a single slivered almond, or leave plain,

and bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned.

(note: i did notice that the ones baked without the silpat got slightly browner on the bottom than ones i baked on it, so if you have one, use it. if not, line the baking sheet with parchment paper, or don’t mind the bottom…)

they keep up to five days in an air-tight container.

the texture and flavor were great. my only complaint would be the shape – i think they ended up a tiny bit too flat. next time i would shape them with a spoon (sort of flattened balls) or pipe them into more of a lump than a disk.

lemon-berry cupcakes

i don’t know where this idea came from, but it got stuck in my head and i got a little obsessed with trying it out. luckily, there was miss robin’s birthday.

what i had in mind were yellow-cake cupcakes with lemon curd filling and fresh blueberry frosting. and i wanted them to be pretty.

what do you think?

the trickiest part, i thought, would be the filling, but it turned out to be just fine.

first, i made a lemon curd. so simple, so tasty.

lemon curd
grated zest of two lemons
6-7 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 pound butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs

put everything except eggs in a pan over low heat (even better – a double boiler, but i don’t have one). stir occasionally until butter and sugar melt. separately, beat the eggs well.

spoon a little of the hot lemon mixture into the eggs and stir it around (this is called tempering), then pour the egg mixture into the rest of the lemon, stirring constantly. keep stirring gently over low heat until the curd thickens, about 10 minutes.

(or here’s a cornstarch one that is quite lovely and even easier.)

i made this and the cupcakes themselves the night before.

(tip for storing lemon curd: put it in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap – pushing the wrap gently down so it sticks to the surface – and refrigerate. this keeps it from getting a “skin” on top.)

yellow-cake cupcakes
(or as fannie farmer calls them “gold cake” – i love it!)
2 1/4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

preheat oven to 350. mix your dry ingredients in a bowl, and stir in the oil and milk. beat for 2 minutes. add eggs and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes. pour into cupcake pan (with liners) about bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into one comes out clean and dry.

when they’re totally cool and you’re ready to fill them, take a small knife and cut a circle in the top of the cupcake that angles in. when you remove it, it should look like a little upside-down triangle. cut most of the tip off that tringle and save the flat part.

then spoon your lemon curd into a small plastic ziplock bag, and cut one of the corners off. this way you can carefully squeeze the curd exactly where you want it

and replace the tops.

frost over the cut, and no one ever knows how that delicious filling got in there!

for the frosting, i pureed about 1/3 cup of fresh blueberries and beat them into a softened stick of butter. then i added some vanilla and about a box and a half of powered sugar. make sure to add the berries to the butter first, or they make it too wet.

creme brulee

here is a fabulous and easy recipe for creme brulee:

1 cup heavy cream
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

preheat oven to 300 degrees.

in a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream and sugar, cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges.

in another bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth and light. pour hot cream mixture into eggs a little at a time, beating continuously. the risk here is that the hot cream may scramble the eggs, so go slowly.

divide mixture among four 4-ounce ramekins. arrange them in a baking dish, and pour boiling water (carefully!) around them, halfway up their sides. cover pan loosely with foil and bake about 25 minutes, or until custard is just barely wiggly. chill 2-3 hours.

when you are ready to serve, bring the cremes to room temperature, and sprinkle with sugar. i have found that demerara works best, and the right amount (since it differs by the size of the dish) is to scoop a little in, shake it around to cover the surface totally with one layer, and then add just a little bit more.

i use a cute little torch to melt and toast the sugar, but you can do it in the broiler, as well. just watch closely so it doesn’t burn!

how gorgeous is that?! the best sound is the sugar breaking as you dip in…

olive oil crust

another thing i picked up from tamar was this recipe for olive oil crust. i think it’s mostly for savory pies, but this kid’s got two thumbs and likes sweet pies, so i decided to give it a shot.

plus, i know some people are scared of pie crust, but this takes some of the scary out of it. it also reduces the fat (a little) by eliminating butter, and makes the crust vegan, if you have that concern.

with a fork, mix 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup ice water, and 1 teaspoon sea salt. (this is the full recipe. i halved it for my little dish.) when it comes together – you might need a little more water – roll it in a ball and let it sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes (or longer) before rolling it out.

you need to “blind bake” the crust. this means putting it in the pie dish, lining it with foil, filling it with beans, and sticking into the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. then remove the foil and bake for about 10 more. you don’t want it totally done, but almost.

then, fill and top the shell, and bake for another 10 or so minutes, until golden and bubbly.

since it’s not spring yet in boston, i used mixed frozen berries, along with a crumble topping. it was perfect and not too sweet. maybe even guilt free?!

the crust itself was a little crisper than regular, and i didn’t find the olive oil flavor to be noticeable at all.