Buttercrunch Toffee

I scream, you scream, we all scream for…..toffee?

Mmmmm toooffeeee!  *in best Homer Simpson impersonation*

The idea to make toffee came to me while I was watching tv.  Have you seen that commercial for LegalZoom.com, where a lady says her mom made the best toffee and she decided to incorporate a toffee company?  See you can find inspiration anywhere even in a commercial on making your own legal documents online….weird.

As I sat there watching the commercial I suddenly was overcome with this incredible desire for toffee.  I hadn’t had toffee for years and I could have just run out to the store and picked up a Heath bar, but what fun would that be?   Besides I always thought that Heath Bars get a little too close to chipping a tooth.  I instead jumped on the Super Information Highway (How 90’s is that?) and found myself a good toffee recipe, on JoyofBaking.com.

Mmmm crunchy, buttery, nutty toffee a great treat that must be had by all!

First toast some nuts, because nuts should be toasted.  I am told frequently that I am a toasted nut.

Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees, spread plain raw almonds on a baking sheet and bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until golden and fragrant, set aside to cool.

Once the almonds have cooled , place them into a food processor and pulse until the almonds are finely chopped.

In an 8 x 10 buttered pan or baking sheet, sprinkle half of the chopped almonds and set the pan aside.

In a heavy pot combine the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and water.  Clip candy thermometer on the side of the pot making sure it does not touch the bottom of the pot.

Bring the sugar mixture to a boil and cook, stirring as little as possible with a wooden spoon.

Keep and eye on the thermometer and cook until the mixture reaches 285 degrees F (140 degrees C).  We still have a little bit to go.

Make sure you have the baking soda and vanilla on hand to stir in as soon as the mixture reaches 285 degrees.

When the sugar mixture reaches 285 degrees remove from heat and add the baking soda and vanilla.  It will bubble up a bit and become foamy.

Immediately pour evenly into prepared pan with chopped almonds.

Sprinkle chopped chocolate over hot toffee and wait a few minutes until it begins to melt.  Because chocolate melts on your toffee not in your hands.

Using and off-set spatula spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee.

Spreading chocolate is all about spreading the love…..the love of chocolate….everyone loves chocolate….except Obed…..he’s weird.

Sprinkle remaining chopped almonds over melted chocolate and let the toffee completely cool.  Then refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow it to completely set.

When ready you can use a sharp knife to to cut it into desired shaped or just break it using your hands.  I personally like to stay away from any uniformity and just break it into random pieces, because that is how I roll.  I am all about randomness and breaking stuff.

The toffee was everything I could have asked for, it was buttery, had the perfect crunch without the risk of chipping a tooth, a hint of chocolate and the almonds just round it all out with their toasted nuttiness.  It literally tasted like a gourmet candy bar, soooo good!

I eventually had to get it out of the house and send it to Obed’s office because every time I walked by it I would eat a piece.  It was like I was superwoman and the toffee was my kryptonite.

Print Recipe

Buttercrunch Toffee (Joy of Baking)

• 2 cups (170 grams) sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
• 1 1/4 cups (270 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 6 ounces (170 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place almonds on a baking sheet and bake them for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown and fragrant. Set aside to cool.

Once the almonds have cooled, place in a food processor, fitted with a metal blade, and pulse the almonds until they are finely chopped. Sprinkle half of the nuts in an 8 inch by 10 inch buttered or oiled baking sheet. Set aside.

In a medium-sized, heavy saucepan combine the brown sugar, water, butter, and corn syrup. Have the baking soda and vanilla extract ready. Bring the sugar mixture to a boil and cook, stirring as little as possible with a wooden spoon, until the mixture reaches 285 degrees F (140 degrees C). Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat as the temperature will continue to rise to 290 degrees F (145 degrees C). Add the baking soda and vanilla extract and stir to combine.

Immediately pour this mixture evenly over the nuts on your baking sheet. Then place the chopped chocolate over the hot toffee. After a few minutes the chocolate will be soft enough to spread with an offset spatula in an even layer over the toffee. Sprinkle the remaining chopped almonds over the melted chocolate.

Cool completely, refrigerate for 30 minutes and then cut into desired shapes using a sharp knife or break into pieces using hands.

You can store the toffee, in an airtight container at room temperature, for about 7-10 days.

Cardamom Vanilla Pound Cake

Sometimes when I write one of these post I have to reach really far back into the dark scary corners of my brain and try to come up with something brilliant to write about and there are many times that I come up empty.  Is this something I should be concerned about?

I have a widget on my desktop that updates with the newest or most popular recipes.  When this Cardamom Vanilla Pound Cake popped up I was thrilled.  I recently discovered the wonderful flavor that cardamom can give a cake when I made a pistachio cake with cardamom.  I never got around to posting it because it was the same day that my camera died and a multitude of things went wrong.   It was a comedic and traumatizing day.

This cake fills your kitchen with the wonderful aroma of vanilla bean and cardamom, it’s a heavenly sent!  It will make you want to dance and sing.  Which with no shame I admit I totally did.

I sang a little tune…ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, and did a little twirl.  Then I opened up the widows and animated forest animals roamed into my kitchen.   Ok I made up the last part.

I only had one vanilla bean in my cupboard so I had to add a little vanilla extract into the batter. It’s all about improvising isn’t it?  Cardamom is used in Indian cooking and baking and comes in pods but can be easily found ground at your local grocery store.  Cardamom is a very unique spice that has a distinct aromatic flavor, it almost has a cool minty quality too it too. You don’t need a lot of cardamom.  This whole cake only calls for 1 tsp of ground cardamom and it hits the spot.  Trust me you are going to love it!

In the comments section of the recipe several people mentioned cutting back on the butter, but I don’t believe on cutting back when it comes to butter.  I made mine with the full amount of butter that the cake called for and it was perfect in my opinion. Besides it’s pound cake, who cuts back on butter when it comes to pound cake?

Isn’t that one of the commandments? Thou shalt not cut back on butter when thou make pound cake?

I am sure it is, I think I remember Pastor doing a sermon on it….or maybe I was just hungry during that service.  I am usually starving my the middle of the service.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 vanilla beans, halved lengthwise
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream
• 2 1/2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together flour, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat together butter and granulated sugar in mixer at medium speed, scraping side of bowl occasionally, until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape seeds from vanilla beans with tip of a paring knife into butter mixture, reserving pods for another use, and beat until combined well, about 1 minute. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in lemon juice until combined well. At low speed, add flour mixture and milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top. Gently rap pan on counter to eliminate air bubbles.

Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in pan 1 hour, then invert onto a rack and cool completely, about 1 hour more.

Beat cream with confectioners sugar and vanilla extract using whisk attachment of mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. Serve cake with whipped vanilla cream.

S’mores: Homemade Graham Crackers and Marshmallows

I meant to have this post up several days ago.  In fact the idea was for this to be a Christmas Eve post, but it didn’t happen.  I was a little preoccupied by the snow/ice that decided to fall in the middle of the day.  Then Obed and I decided to brave the snow and go to the Christmas Eve service at church, after work.  It was a great service, lot of laughs and fun and the wonderful story of Christmas.   Then we had to drive home and that is when the fun really started. 

The snow that had fallen was light and fluffy and blew with the slightest wind, causing virtual whiteouts.  While driving home we saw several cars that had gone off the road and where stuck in the snow.  I wasn’t surprised because you couldn’t see the roads and there wasn’t a snow plow in site.

I was talking to my mother on the drive home and I was so nervous I had to get off the phone so I could concentrate on my nervousness.  Does that even make sense?  I just couldn’t really focus on the conversation when I was in fear of falling into a ditch somewhere.   However my husband, who grew up in Florida and has driven in the snow on maybe two prior occasions did a wonderful job and got us home safe and sound. 

As soon as we got home we released the hounds into the backyard and Obed too.  The labs and Obed were loving the snow, but myself and my two little ones weren’t digging it so much at first.  However they did do better the next day.   In fact I couldn’t get them to come into the house.  When everyone settled down we…..ok….Obed built a fire and we roasted some s’mores.   Ahhhhhhh! 

I had homemade graham crackers and marshmallows leftover from s’more kits that I had made for Obed’s team at the office.   I thought the kits would make a great gift and I got the idea from my very sweet and creative friend Beth at Stories of A to Z.  I had a graham cracker and marshmallow receipe that I have been wanting to make from the lovely Smitten Kitchen and I finally got the perfect reason to give them a go .   I made the label by using Scrapblog.com as Beth had suggested and used some trimmed brown paper bags for the packaging.   I did the baking and Obed helped assemble the kits. 

Everyone loved their little kit and the most popular question of the day was, “You can make marshmallows?”

It was too funny how excited everyone was to have homemade marshmallows.  These marshmallows were softer and fluffier then your store bought marshmallow, but the roasted just as well.   The only thing you had to be cautious about was that they melt faster then the store bought marshmallow, making them easier to fall off the stick.

I put those previously fluffy, now sticky marshmallows between the two graham crackers with some chocolate and pressed it together and all the marshmallow goo’ed out the sides.  It was a delicious site to see.

Then I took a bite and I was in heaven, a far more warm and cozy heaven compared to the blizzard conditions we were experiencing. 

Yes I got marshmallow and chocolate all over my fingers and some on my nose and chin, but that is the measure of a good s’more…..is it not?

Oh behold the ooey, gooey goodness! 

As much as I have raved about the marshmallow, let me not forget to mention the wonderful graham cracker.  This homemade graham cracker has more flavor then any store bought graham cracker.   First you can taste the sweet flavor of the honey and brown sugar and they have a firmer crisp then the crumbly texture of a store bought graham cracker.   The store bought graham cracker is definitely without a doubt bland compared to these crackers, I may never go back.

Print Recipe

Graham Crackers (adapted from Smitten Kitchen via La Brea Bakery and 101 cookbooks)

Yield: 10 large crackers

The original recipe called for the crackers to be chilled for 30 minutes after rolled out and cutting and to bake for 25 minutes.  Because of time issues I did not chill the crackers before baking.  Also, mine appeared to be done between 10 and 15 minutes, baking them for 25 made them over brown.  It may just be my oven.

• 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 7 tablespoons (3 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
• 1/3 cup mild-flavored honey, such as clover
• 5 tablespoons whole milk
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

For the topping:

• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In the bowl l of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low to incorporate. Add the butter and mix on low, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal.  You can also used a food processor, with a blade attachment.

In a small bowl, combine honey, milk, and vanilla extract and whisk. Add the honey mixture to the flour mixture and mix on low until the dough barely comes together.

Press the dough together and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.  Shape the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

To prepare the topping: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon, and set aside.

Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Once the dough has set and chilled, divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Lightly flour your work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough maybe sticky, so flour as necessary. Trim the edges of the rectangle to 4 inches wide. Working with the shorter side of the rectangle parallel to the work surface, cut the strip every 4 1/2 inches to make 4 crackers. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place the crackers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping. 

Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more flour and roll out the dough to get about two or three more crackers.

Using a toothpick or skewer, prick the dough to form three dotted rows about 1/2 inch for each side.

Bake for 15 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the tough, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking.

Repeat with the second batch of dough. 

 

Marshmallows (adapted from Smitten Kitchen via Gourmet Dec 1998)

Makes about 96 1-inch cubed marshmallows

Do ahead: Marshmallows keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature 1 week.

• About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup cold water, divided
• 2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
• 1 tablespoon vanilla (alternately: 1/2 of a scraped vanilla bean, 2 teaspoons almond or mint extract or maybe even some food coloring for tinting)

Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.

In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften.

In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. This may take a bit, it took about 10 minutes for me.  Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer. The hand mixer may take longer then 10 minutes…..but you can DO IT!

In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan, scrapping can make for a sticky mess, oiling you spatula will help.  Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.

Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large oiled knife or pizza cutter trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.

Reindeer Cakepops

Cruddy photo post #3.  I have decided that at the end of the month I am going to invest in some table top lighting, this daylight savings thing is killing me.

If you are a fan of the very popular and talented Bakerella you know what a cakepop is and you may have seen these on her site. 

When I was recruited to make dessert for an event with 120 guest I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to make Christmas themed cakepops.  It took me a few days to make all 70 pops (it would have been 74 but 4 of them didn’t make it) but I had a ton of fun doing it.  I made a mini army of reindeer.

I made the cakepops using Pioneer Woman’s recipe for chocolate sheet cake and they were delicious.  I made 2 sheet cakes and only 1 batch of icing.  If you do just one sheet cake you will only need 1/2 a batch of icing.  If you decided to go the chocolate sheet cake route, make sure to let the icing set in the fringe for at least 2 hours or overnight before mixing in with the crumbled cake.

Everyone loved them and thought that they were almost…..almost too cute to eat.

Reindeer Cakepops (adapted from Bakerella)

• 1 box cake mix or cake recipe of choice
• 1 can of frosting or frosting recipe of choice
• Supplies
• Chocolate melts
• pop sticks
• cinnamon red hots or red M&Ms
• mini pretzels
• white confetti sprinkles
• edible writer

Bake your cake according to the directions. Once cake has cooled completely, crumble into a large bowl.

Mix in 3/4 a can of frosting thoroughly using the back of your spoon or with your fingers, add more if needed.

Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50)

Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (1 min at 50% power followed by 30 sec intervals, stirring in between, until melted.) Do not over heat or the chocolate will separate.

Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in the melted chocolate coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.) Place them in the freezer to allow them to firm up.

Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and hold above the bowl allowing excess to drizzle off, softly tap and rotate.  Be careful that the ball does not fall off.  If chocolate begins to drizzle off the ball when upright you can use a toothpick to “scrape” it off, by running it alone the base of the ball.

Wait for the chocolate to become tacky and place decorations, like antlers, nose and eyes on the ball.

Place in a styrofoam block to dry.

Once dry, draw faces with an edible ink pen and allow ink to dry!

Tres Leche Cupcakes

Many moons ago I attempted to make some tres leche cupcake.  My first attempt was pretty much a flop.  I went against my instincts and did everything that I shouldn’t have.  Spooning the milk mixture over the cupcakes was a stupid idea, using paper cupcake liners was another not so smart idea and my cake batter does not translate over to a cupcake very well.   I ended up with milk dripping everywhere and soggy cupcake liners.  In summation it was a disaster.

If your first attempt is not a success, do not be afraid to try again.  I decided to attempt the tres leche cupcake idea again, using a bit more common sense.  The first problem I had was that my tres leche cake recipe does not translate over to a cupcake very well.  My recipe if for a very dense pound cake and when I tried to make that into a cupcake I ended up with really hard cupcakes.  Not so good…no.   I went on the hunt for a cake recipe that I thought could work for the cupcakes.  I found Pioneer Woman’s tres leche cake and thought it would be prefect.  The cake is made by separating the eggs and folding in the whipped whites into the cake batter, making for a very light and fluffy cake. 

The second issue was getting the milk into the cupcake.  Spooning it over the cupcake doesn’t work and although I knew this the first time around, like a dork I still tried it.  This time I thought I would use the noodle that God gave me a bit more efficiently and be a little smarter about it.   I got my hands on a meat/flavor injector.  If you have a husband that likes to smoke and grill you may already have one.  If this is the case be sure to give it a really good cleaning and soak the needle and plunger in hot water.  Otherwise go out and buy yourself one, it is well worth the investment and doesn’t cost much at all.

The final issue that I had to over come was the cupcake liner.  A common paper liner will not work, the milk will eventually soak through and start to drip.  It makes quite a mess.  The foil liners held up beautifully. 

Since I was making all these adjustments for the cupcake, I decided to change up the frosting too.  Traditionally the frosting on a tres leche cake is just whipped cream frosting, but it can get kind of sad and droopy sitting on a cupcake out of the fridge for too long.  Besides I seem to have a extreme inability when it comes to making whip cream.  It is just something I am severely deficient at.  I found this frosting recipe,(I can’t remember where), and it works perfectly for this cupcake version of the tres leche cake.

The cupcakes were a success!  The cake was moist and fluffy, the milk stayed in the cupcake, there were no soggy liners and everyone loved the icing.  YEAH for me!  Give them a try I am sure you will love them just as much as we did.

 Print Recipe

Tres Leche Cupcakes (adapted from Pioneer Woman) 

1 1/2 dozen

Cupcake

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 whole eggs, separated
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 2 cups whole milk or heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup Cream Of Coconut or sweet condensed milk
• 1 can (12 ounces), evaporated milk
• foil cupcake liners
• meat/flavor injector

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake molds with foil cupcake liners.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Spoon into prepared cupcake molds, 3/4 full.

Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cupcakes on cooling rack.

Combine coconut cream, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cupcakes are cool, fill a meat injector with milk mixture, pierce the cupcake and inject about 1 tbs of mixture in three different spots. Try not to inject too deep, or all the milk will settle at the bottom. The milk mixture will seep out the top when full.

Allow the cupcakes to absorb the milk mixture, refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight.

Frosting

• 3 cups powder sugar
• 1 stick butter, soften
• 2 tbs heavy whipping cream

In a mixer beat together powder sugar, butter and whipping cream until fluffy.  You can add more whipping cream 1 tbs at a time for desired consistency.

This frosting is best served room temperature.  Frost your cupcakes on the same day you are going to serve them.  You can pipe on the frosting or spread it on.  Bloat excess syrup off maraschino cherries and use to garnish cupcakes.

Leftover cupcakes have to be refrigerated because of the milk.

Flan de Queso (Cream Cheese Flan)

I was unusually quiet last week and that was because I was drowning in an ocean of flour, sugar and eggs.  I had been recruited to help make desserts for an event for about 120 guest.  I started baking on Monday and didn’t stop till Friday morning.

This week I will be posting the desserts that I made, and since most the baking took place well after the sun had set and in a flurry of flour, they will be accompanied with some poor photography.  Exhibit number 1 above.  However because I love you all and want to spread flan de queso love, heinous picture or not I am sharing this recipe with you.   This one will be flagged for a reshoot.

Flan is a very traditional Latin American dessert.  You will find it served in almost any Latin American restaurant.   There are more variations of flan then I can shake a stick at, all I hope will make an appearance on this site in due time, but today we are going to start with my favorite Flan de Queso.  Flan de Queso is basically a kind of cheesecake custard.  It should have the consistency and creaminess of a cheesecake.   It is one of my favorite desserts during Christmas and no party can be had with out a flan on the table.   I think it is written in stone somewhere.  “Thou shall not have Christmas party without flan”.  I am sure it is written somewhere.

Here are just a few tips when preparing a flan. First keep an eye on the sugar, burnt sugar on a flan is one of the most common mistakes.  Be patience don’t turn up the heat to make it melt faster, you will just make it burn.  Burnt sugar takes on a very bitter taste and even if the flan is perfect the caramel will kill it.   Second when prepareing this particular flan it is very imporant that the cream cheese be soften and creamed.  If you do not do either of these you may end up with lumpy pieces of cream cheese floating in your egg mixture.  When this happens all the cheese floats to the top (which is the bottom) and you end up with a thick layer of cheese and a unpleasant eggy taste.  So PLEASE, creamcheese soften and creamed!  Finally, be patient, let the flan cool and refrigerate it, this allows it to set and have a very creamy cheesecake texture.   

Print Recipe

Flan de Queso (Cream Cheese Flan)

Caramel

• 1 cup of sugar
• 4 Tbs of water

In a medium non-stick sauce pan, combine sugar and water and stir a couple of times. Heat over medium heat, without stirring, until the syrup melts and turns golden. You can swish it around once in a while.

The syrup will begin to bubble just before it’s ready. Allow it to bubble for a minute or so and then remove from heat.

Pour the caramel into a 9 inch round pan, coat the pan by slowly turning it and letting the syrup cover the bottom and sides.

Set pan aside, allow to sit for about 10 minutes or until the caramel hardens. 

Flan

• ½ cup sugar
• 1 – 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 eggs

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer cream sugar and cream cheese together using a paddle attachement or use hand mixer. Add milks and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add eggs one at a time until well combined.

Carefully pour batter into prepared pan and bake in a “baño de Maria” (bain marie) for about 50 minutes or until golden. Test with a knife as you would a cake, it should come out clean.

Remove from oven, cool and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Salted Caramel Sauce

This weekend was a slow cooking weekend for me….in fact it was pretty much a nonexistent cooking weekend.  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to get my groove on in the kitchen, it was just because we were so busy with activities now that Christmas is in full swing.   However, I did manage to make this very delicious and decadent caramel sauce to drizzle over my bowl of ice cream.   I was on the hunt for a salted caramel sauce to top some pumpkin cupcakes with and I found this recipe on the fabulous Smitten Kitchen.  This is one of the easiest and most versatile things to toss together.  In a matter of a few minutes you have a delicious dark, rich, salted caramel to drizzle over dessert or spread on a pastry.   The hardest part is not eating it straight out of the pot.

First you want to melt your sugar in a large non-stick pot over a medium high heat.  Stir or whisk the sugar so it melts evenly.

Cook the melted sugar until it is a dark amber color.

Add the butter in all at once and stir until the butter melts.

Turn the heat down to low and pour in the heavy cream.  Be sure that the cream is at room temperature or the sugar will become hard and lumpy and it will be difficult to whisk.

Whisk the sauce until it is smooth.  You can use it immediately or store it in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Drizzle it over ice cream, spread it on pumpkin bread, drizzle over cheese cake or eat it straight off the spoon.  No matter how you choose to enjoy it you will love it.

Warning:  This sauce is highly addictive.

Print Recipe

Salted Caramel Sauce (Makes about 1 1/3 cups) (Smitten Kitchen)

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) salted butter, the better you can get, the better it will taste
• 1/2 cup plus two tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

Melt the sugar over medium to moderately high heat in a two or three quarts pot, whisking or stirring the sugar as it melts to ensure it heats evenly. If it starts to clump keep don’t stress it will even out.  Cook the melted sugar to a nice, dark amber color. Add the butter all at once and stir it in, turn down to a low heat and pour in the heavy cream (The sauce will foam up quite a bit when you add the cream), whisking it until you get a smooth sauce.

You can pour it over a dessert right away or you can store it in an air tight container for up to two weeks.  When you take it out after being chilled it will have thickened a bit.  Microwave for 60 seconds or until it is back to pouring consistency.

Try not to eat it all straight from the jar.

Quesitos de Guayaba (Sweeten Cream Cheese and Guava Pastries)

This is one of my favorite easy sweets to whip up for company or because I need something to eat with my coffee.  In every bakery back home in Puerto Rico you will find a pastry we call “quesito” (ke-see-toe)which basically translates to “little cheese”.   A “quesito” is basically just sweeten cream cheese wrapped in a puff pastry and dusted with powder sugar, you can also do a thin glaze in place of the powder sugar.    If you go into a bakery early in the morning you will find people having a “quesito” with a small cup of cafe con leche otherwise called a “posillo” (poe-see-jo).  Another variation is to toss in some “guayaba’ (guava) with the cream cheese.

Unfortunately I am having a difficult time finding my choice guava out here in the Midwest.  I can find guava paste with no problem but I prefer pureed guava shells for this pastry, because it is not as sweet and sugary as guava paste.   Fortunately my wonderful husband came to the rescue (although I suspect he deduced some benefits for himself) and picked up 3 cans of guava shells when he was in Florida on business.   Although they almost didn’t make it because Obed packed them in his carry-on.  Obed refuses to check-in his luggage when traveling and because of this refusal my guava shells almost didn’t make it.   He had to explain to the suspecting TSA agent how his beautiful wife (that would be me, just to clarify ) in Oklahoma really needed them and can’t find them anywhere in Tulsa.  The agent then checked with her supervisor before letting Obed pass with the guava shells.   Obed said that the supervisor looked Puerto Rican so he must have sympathized with our predicament.  It was a close one folks, but I got my guava shells.  Score!

Another bonus was that I got a coupon in the mail from Foodbuzz.com for a free Pepperidge Farm product, so I marched myself….actually I sent Obed, to the store and got a package of puff pastry sheets.  For free mind you….double score!

Well now that I have my guava shells and my pastry sheets lets make “Quesitos de Guayaba”.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Line baking sheets with silicon mats or parchment paper.

Pour 1 can of guava shells into a blender or food processor with half of their syrup and 1 tsp of lime juice.

Blend or puree until smooth, set aside.  Cream together 12 oz of cream cheese and 3/4 cup of powder sugar, set aside.  (no picture available because I forgot to take one, oops)

On a lightly floured surface roll out thawed pastry dough to about a 12 x 12 square. 

Cut the pastry sheet into 4 x 4 squares.  You should get 9 squares from each sheet.

Spread a heaping table spoon of cream cheese at an angle, running corner to corner, on each square.  Then top the cream cheese with guava puree. 

Wet the corners of the pastry squares and fold over the filling like a burrito, you can trim the peak or tuck it in if you like.   Place on prepared baking sheets.

Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until puffy and golden in color.  Immediately dust with powder sugar and serve with a ”posillo” of cafe con leche.   

These are the perfect ending to a heavy meal because they are light and not too sweet.   I think I may be going for a second round this evening after we put up our Christmas tree.   I have two more cans of guava shells, what should I do with them?  Any ideas or suggestions? 

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Quesitos de Guayaba (about 18 pastries)

• 2 puff pastry sheets, thawed
• 1 can of guava shells (can substitute for guava paste)
• 1 tsp of lime juice
• 12 oz  cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup powder sugar

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Line baking sheets with silicon mat or parchment paper.

In a blender or food processor pour in guava shells with half of their syrup and lime juice, blend until smooth.

Using a hand or stand mixer, whip together cream cheese and powdered sugar until creamy. 

On a lightly floured surface roll pastry sheets out to about 12 x 12 inches.   Cut the pastry sheets into 4 x 4 squares, you should get about 9 squares per sheet.  Spread about 2 tbs of cream cheese mixture down the middle of the square at an angle, running corner to corner, then top cream cheese with 1 heaping tbs of guava.  Wet the corners of the square and fold over over the filling, like a burrito.  You can now trim the peak or fold it in. 

Place pastries on prepared baking sheets and bake in the oven for 25 mins or until puffy and golden.  Keep an eye on them. Remove from oven and immediately dust with powder sugar. 

*If you decided to use guava paste, simply dice the paste into small cubes and spread out over cream cheese.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

Lately my Sunday afternoons have been for baking.  We get up, go to church and afterwards Obed heads out to play flag football with the church league.  This gives me some quiet time alone, which I spend honing my baking skills.  My co-workers encourage this practice since the baked goods usually end up in the office kitchen on Monday morning.  It is my way of trying to curve the Monday morning blues.  Fresh baked goodies can make any Monday morning better. 

This past Sunday I figured I would attempt the whoopie pie.   I have never had a whoopie pie and to be honest just recently learned about them.  When Obed asked me what I was baking and I told him Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, I got a bit of a raised eyebrow.    He asked why are they called “whoopie” pies and I thought that this was a very valid question because the name is a little odd and well I would like to know for myself.  I did a quick search for the history of the whoopie pie.

What I found was that the whoopie pie is originally from New England and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition.  A whoopie pie is two cakey cookies with cream sandwiched in between.  The Amish would make them as a treat from leftover cake batter.  The legend is when children would find them in their lunchbox they would shout “whoopie”, hence the name whoopie pie. (History of the Whoopie Pie)  This explained why Obed and I have never heard of or had a whoopie pie before, being that their aren’t many Amish in the Caribbean. 

Well let me exclaim that we were deprived!  These whoopie pies are awesomeness!  The cookies are very cakey and moist, and the cream cheese filling is decadent.  This is the perfect fall treat.  The pies are filled will all the fall spices you would imaging, like cloves, cinnamon and ginger.  They are literally little hand held cakes, with frosting on the inside to keep you fingers clean. 

Put one in your kids lunchbox today, whoopie!

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Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling (Makes about 24 pies)

From Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Note:  It is important to chill the pumpkin puree so that the pies keep their shape when you are scooping them out onto the baking sheet.  Also if you are baking in batches keep the dough refrigerated between baking.

Whoopie Cookies

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 Tbs cinnamon
• 1 Tbs ginger
• 1 Tbs cloves
• 2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups chilled pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Filling

• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

WHOOPIE COOKIES

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, set aside.

In a separate bowl or mixer, whisk the brown sugar and oil together until combined. Add the chilled pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.  Sprinkle the flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined.

Using a medium cookie scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. (If you are baking in batches, refrigerate the dough between batches.)  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on the pan while you make the filling.

CREAM CHEESE FILLING

Sift powdered sugar into a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until it is completely smooth, with no visible lumps. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.

Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Do not overbeat the filling, or it will lose structure. (The filling can be made 1 day ahead. Cover the bowl tightly and put it in the refrigerator. Let the filling soften at room temperature before using.)

ASSEMBLE

Turn half of the cooled cookies upside down (flat side facing up).

Using the same scoop for the cookies or a tablespoon to drop a large dollop of filling onto the flat side of the cookie. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edges of the cookie. Repeat until all the cookies are used. Put the whoopie pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up before serving.

The whoopie pies will keep for up to 3 days, on a parchment-lined baking sheet covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator.

Ficoco: Fig and Cocoa Spread

I am always looking for new and interesting things to try.  When I was in Whole Foods earlier this week I stumble upon this very cute jar.  Have you ever seen this before?  It is Ficoco a fig and cocoa spread made in Croatia.  It is dark, rich and has a light sweetness from the figs.  I absolutely loved it!  It’s figs and cocoa how can you go wrong?  My favorite was the little chunks of figs.  The cocoa is comes in as a second note with that great bitter sweet taste of dark chocolate.  Also I just love how fig seeds pop in your mouth, it’s a great bonus.  It is definitely a spread and not a preserve, so it is perfect to spread over pastries, dessert cheese, ice cream or even a piece of toast, but won’t work as a filling. 

 

As soon as I got it home I spread it over a piece of toast and it was a delight.  It was like a new Nutella but totally different.  I wished I had gotten a second jar because I knew that it was going to go fast.  Also it was on sale at half price.  A jar can run you about $6 so I am kicking myself for not stocking up. 

I immediately began to ponder other way I could enjoy my new treat.   That is when I remembered PW’s recipe for shortbread cookies.   Shortbread cookies by themselves are absolutely delightful.  How much better do you think they would be with some Ficoco spread on top?

Well I will tell you.  It was fan-freaking-fantastic!  I was in heaven!  I sat on my couch after dinner with two shortbread cookies, Ficoco spread and a glass of milk.  I dipped the knife in the jar and spread the gorgeous dark spread on the crumbly butter cookie.  When I took a bite I was transported into another dimension.  I sat their with my eyes closed “Mmmmmm-ing” and “Awwwww-ing”, repeatedly saying “this is so good……oh my goodness this is so good!”  

When I opened my eyes Obed sat their with a puzzled half scared look on his face and asked me if I was ok.   I declared, “Heck yeah!”    I then march myself right back into the kitchen and grabbed two more cookies and did it all over again.

I declare get yourself some today!

 

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Shortbread Cookies (from Pioneer Woman)

• 2 sticks, plus 2 tablespoons regular (salted) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Scant 1 cup corn starch

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar together. Sift in flour and cornstarch and blend together using a pastry cutter or using a fork until the ingredients all come together.

Form dough into a ball, place in Zip-loc bag, and refrigerate 20 minutes.

Roll onto a lightly floured surface and cut into rounds. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat.

Bake for 20 minutes. Do not allow shortbread to brown; the edges should have the faintest golden tinge

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