Fillin the baking void

My oven and I have sadly become distant over the past couple of months. Last week I filled my baking void by trying my hand at something simple and new: Andes chocolate chunk cookies. Andes mints bring back fond memories of my childhood. I used to look forward to them after every family Friday night meal at Luby's cafeteria (one of my favorite restaurants in the world). These cookies hit the spot, and brought back good times. Makes me miss Texas all over again.

You should try it too! Click here for the printable recipe.

It's the last day to join the CSN giveaway. Come join the fun!

Earth Friendly Cupcakes

{earth- friendly red velvet cupcakes baked in silicon cups sans the traditional paper liners}

I baked a ton of goodies this past week as graduation gifts for my kiddos. It was sweet watching them enjoy them as we commemorated all that had been accomplished during our time together. The red velvet cupcakes were especially amusing because the kids were so confused as to what flavor they were. Some were convinced that they were strawberry, some were mystified, and others could care less (they were just happy to be ingesting sugar). Nonetheless, I'm really going to miss them, but I'm glad I got to work with them and share two of the things I'm passionate about :1. making a difference 2. baking =)

Baker's heart

My little bakeshop got an order for a baby shower this weekend, so I busied myself with making a hundred triple chocolate chip cupcakes finished with buttercream icing. After whipping up over 5 lbs of icing and a hundred of these decadent babies, I thought to myself how awesome it would be to be able to do this full time someday. I can't wait to make it happen =)

Love and Nutella

{oh so good nutella brownies recipe courtesy of the lovely Rhiannon of Pink Sugar Desserts}

{d trying to entice burger. too bad burger will never get to experience the wonders of nutella}

{i'm pretty sure i've caught derek eating this stuff by the spoonful}

{blurry scene of what goes on during a typical tuesday night <3}

Every week, D begs me to bake something with nutella in it. This boy would breathe this stuff if he could. That is how much he loves it. I haven't found very many good recipes with nutella in it, and when I do, they always yield sub-par results. Last week, I came across Rhiannon's recipe for nutella brownies and I was stoked. They turned out super moist and absolutely delicious. I think Derek will go to sleep happy tonight =)

Ice cream sandwiches for dinner

{Burger likes it!}

At the end of a long day, there's nothing like a homemade ice cream sandwich to make everything better =)

I used Dorie Greenspan's "World's best chocolate chip cookie" from her beloved book, Baking from my home to yours. They are slightly crispy on the outside and delightfully chewy on the inside making for a flatter cookie and perfect for sandwiching your favorite ice cream. How can you resist? (even Burger can't).

ps. Today is the last day to sign up for my giveaway, so come and join in all the fun here =)

happy Thursday loves !

Scenes from my unexpected day off

{my first time baking madeleines, a little mouse (aka derek) took a nibble while I wasn't looking}

{a little gift I got myself today}

{I made one of my mom's signature dishes, Lou's Chicken. She was the best cook ever}

{vino! }

It was SO nice to not have to wake up to a blaring alarm clock this morning. There's something about alarm clocks not being conducive to the beginning of a good day. My day off was exactly what I needed. I spent time doing a couple errands, treated myself to a little retail therapy, did some baking, and had a nice quiet dinner and a movie with D (wine included!). I wish everyday was like this one. Too bad I'm usually in a mad rush to meet deadlines and see patients, and my diet consists of Subway and boca burgers. Anyway, all complaints aside,life is pretty good =)

Tomorrow I'll be posting info about my giveaway to celebrate my 100th post, so make sure to stop by and join in on all the fun! I found some really great items while I was out today, and am really excited to share it with ya'll !

Cupcake Love

{dessert for the indian themed movie night we hosted on Sunday}

Carrot cupcakes topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and a touch of orange zest.

Perfect =)

Airy Orange chiffon cake recipe

{orange chiffon cake topped with whipped cream and the strawberries I bought from the farmer's market last weekend}

{sneaking that third piece}

{the cookie monster}

My oven and Kitchen Aid mixer have a strange way of pulling at my heartstrings. Despite a never ending to-do list breathing down my back, I somehow always find a way to put it on hold and make time for baking. This week's creations included a dreamy orange chiffon cake and tons of chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies.

This sounds strange, but indulging in chiffon cake is like eating sweet airy bites of clouds. It's almost guilt free. That's why I ended up sneaking a third piece. SHHH!

ORANGE CHIFFON CAKE (adapted from Kevin Chai's recipe)

Ingredients:

Part I

7 egg yolks room temperature
1/3 c sugar
1/4 c orange juice
½ tsp salt
1tsp orange essence
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 c cake flour plus 1 tsp. baking powder

Part II
7 egg whites
1 cup sugar
½ tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

Part I
1. Mix egg yolks, sugar, salt, oil, orange essence, and orange juice in a mixing bowl. Fold in sifted flour carefully until combined.

Part II
1. Whisk egg white and sugar (divided into 3 parts). Do this three times until soft peaks form. Add cream of tarter until stiff peaks form. It is imperative that the peaks are STIFF.

2. Fold in one-third of the whites into the yolk mixture. Then add the yolk mixture into the remaining whites and fold in gently until well mixed.
3. Pour into a 9 in tube pan and bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 30 -40 minutes or until cooked. ( my oven gets super hot, so I only baked it for 30 mins)

3. Remove from oven and invert cake pan to cool completely on rack.

Top it with homemade whipped cream, and you are golden :)

Introducing Sugar Therapy

{learn more about Sugar Therapy here}

After what has seemed to be an eternity of hoping and dreaming, my friend Mabel and I finally took a leap of faith and started a small baking business that specializes in creating custom ordered confections from wedding cakes to mini cupcake bites. We thought the name "Sugar Therapy" would be fitting (in honor of our day jobs as clinical child therapists), and let's face it, a big fat slice of cake washed down by a tall glass of ice cold milk can be pretty damn therapeutic after a long hard day!

We completed and delivered our first real order on Saturday, and later that night was graciously given rave reviews by our customers and all their guests. It felt so good to hear such positive feedback, and realize that I am one step closer to making my dream a reality. I really want to thank D for supporting and encouraging me every step of the way. He even willingly agreed to be our delivery dude free of charge. What a guy! Anyways, I put up a temporary website with a gallery of our past creations. It is definitely still very rough and needs a lot of work, but we would really love if you could check it out and show your support!

Thanks a million!

Lovely little creations- White chocolate cheesecake

{eye candy for cheesecake lovers}

This dangerously decadent dessert was made specially for my friend Alaina's birthday. The birthday girl, who is incidentally a cheesecake fanatic opted to nix traditional birthday fare in favor of this delicious alternative. Although the end result was absolutely great, I'd have to say this baby was a labor of love. After two oven fire scares and a crack that almost ruined the entire aesthetic of the cheesecake, I was this close to throwing in the towel, dumping the damn thing into the garbage disposal, and sending derek to the nearest bakery for a consolation cake. Luckily I stuck it out, and thanks to several prayers and crossed fingers, successfully pulled it off without burning my house down (okay I'm exaggerating).

Now that I've scared everyone from ever making a cheesecake, truthfully it is not that hard. I've made other cheesecakes without a hitch, but with this particular cake I failed to securely wrap the bottom of the spring form pan with foil. It is a MUST when using an Oreo crust. Because Oreos already contain a very high fat content, the oils from the cream will melt during the baking process and leak through the pan causing it to drip onto the oven's underside (which is a big no-no). So take it from me and wrap the bottom of that pan a hundred times before you bake anything. Now, with that being said. Here's the recipe :

crust

• 2.5 cups chocolate wafer cookies (I used oreos), broken into pieces
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

filling

• 8 oz good-quality white chocolate, finely chopped

• 4- 8 ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions

Crust:

* Preheat oven to 325 degrees, finely grind 2.5 cups of chocolate wafers in a food processor

* Mix crumbs with 1/2 cup melted butter until moist.

* Press into the bottom of a 9 in springform pan, and 1 inch up the sides.

* Bake for 10 minutes or until firm but not burnt

Filling:

* melt chocolate in a double boiler. cool until luke warm and stir to prevent hardening, set aside

* cream sugar, cream cheese,salt, and flour until light and fluffy

* with the mixer on low-med speed, incorporate one egg at a time

* slowly mix in sour cream vanilla until combined

* stir in melted chocolate

* pour filling into cooled crust

* bake in center rack for 1 hour at 325 . (check cheesecake at 50 minutes because ovens can vary)

* turn off oven at end of cooking time and cool cheesecake inside of oven with the door slightly open for 30 minutes (this will help prevent the cheesecake from cracking)

* remove cheesecake from oven and refrigerate overnight

Topping:

You can choose to serve it plain, but I like mine topped with whipped cream and chocolate covered strawberries.

* combine 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup powdered sugar

* beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks are formed (decorate as desired)

* strawberries can be dipped in special mold chocolate such as the wilton brand (which adds a special touch)

HAPPY BAKING =) and Happy Birthday Alaina!

xoxo,

Melissa

Donut Crazy

Okay, so I went a little cuckoo for donuts this past week. One morning the wiring in my brain came loose and caused me to have an insatiable urge to want them 24 hours a day.

I think it all started at a friend's house when Food Network's "best thing I ever ate" came on and lo and behold one of the foods being featured was an apple bacon and maple glazed donut from Dynamo donut (which lucky for me is conveniently situated in the heart of San Francisco). My initial reaction was to let go of all impulse control, jump in my car, and run over anything in between me and that donut. But after coming back to earth and realizing there was no practical way for me to obtain this thing, I decided to get my fix at another local donut shop near my house. They were good, but obviously not good enough cuz I still had to keep convincing myself to not drive across the bay in the middle of rush hour traffic. Three days pass. The big day finally arrives, and all I have on my mind is the sweet fried doughy goodness. As we enter the mission district, I could see the cute little green stand a few yards away calling my name. When I reached the front counter I couldn't contain my excitement any longer and started blabbing to the guy how I saw their shop on TV blah blah blah, and how excited I was to try their maple glazed bacon apple... at first he was doing a good job humoring me, then he starts interrupting me "oh uh ma'am.. ummm we sold out of those donuts like really really early this morning". WHHHHHAAAATT!!!! I was seriously devastated. D and I had to settle for whatever donuts they had left (which wasn't much in the middle of the afternoon) nonetheless they were good, but I still left feeling disappointed.

The letdown inspired me to take matters into my own hands by making my own donuts and trying to recreate the mythical maple glazed bacon apple donut. I won't lie, it took a lot of elbow grease and my kitchen looked like it was hit by a tornado, but in the end it was all worth every calorie folks.

I took the basic donut recipe from here. (it was perfect! follow it to the T and you will get Krispy Kreme caliber results)

But I made my own maple apple bacon glaze:

3 slices of bacon (chopped into small pieces)

3-4 tbsp brown sugar

About 2 tbsp full of finely chopped apple

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 tbsp heavy cream

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small sauté pan on medium heat, combine the first three ingredients until the apples and the bacon are crisp and caramelized. Remove from pan and set aside.

Wash the sauté pan, and slowly melt the butter on low. Once the butter is melted, add the remaining liquid ingredients, mix until incorporated, and remove from heat.

Once your donuts are fried, immediately dip them in the glaze, place them on a wire rack, and sprinkle them with the bacon/apple topping. Allow them to cool and set.

Enjoy! (and then resume your regular exercise routine!)

{the place where all my dreams were shattered lol.. jk I will definitely come back and reserve one before I come}

{my consolation prize, a delicious vanilla bean donut}

The three photos below are of my creations. Because I was too busy eating them while they were hot, I was unable to take pictures until the next day, so they look a little soggy. Donuts are best when they're hot.

Cravings around the kitchen

{first, feast your eyes on these juicy berries I used for my 4th of July cheesecake I ate half of them before I even topped the cake with them}

Now for the fun stuff...

Although I'm a firm believer in always keeping hard copies of favorite and secret family recipes, I can't stop coveting this little gadget.  I saw it in a magazine I was browsing through during my plane ride to Austin, but it was only today after I became fed up of staring at my collection of random recipes scribbled on post-it notes littered all over my kitchen did I decide to check it out.

Meet the Demy:

It has the convenience of a 5x7 recipe card except with a boat load of other helpful features like a spill resistant/easy to clean touch screen, three timers to keep up with complicated recipes, easy uploading capabilities for both mac and pc, and MORE.  Oh how nice this thing would look on my kitchen counter.  The only thing stopping me is its hefty price tag of $299.95.  That means over $300 folks.  The old Missy would have pressed the "buy now" button long before writing this post, but the new Missy will "save up" and wait... I think. 

Bake Love

I'm back from my trip to Austin ya'll, and have so many pictures to share :) Unfortunately I haven't loaded any of them yet, but in the mean time, I wanted to share this lovely and not to mention melt in your mouth carrot walnut bread/cake I made a few months ago (recipe to come soon!)  D's dad gave him a Flip camcorder as an early bday gift, and now that we have this super sweet gadget I'm contemplating about doing some some cooking tutorial videos, but I'm scared of coming off as a weirdo. Anyways, if you think it's a good idea send me a comment! I need a consensus.  

Now, I'm off to Carmel for a carefree day with my three favorite boys: Derek, Burger, and Derby.  Have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend! 

Eat, Drink, and be Merry (and most importantly, be thankful for the wonderful opportunties we have because of our wonderful country!)

Melissa 

milk and cookies

Last night, I strayed from my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, and tried this one by the quirky Alton Brown.  It was described as soft,chewy, with a slight crispy underside (just like I like them), and the outcome definitely did not disappoint.  I think I ate five cookies in one sitting, which negated the running I did just an hour prior to baking, but it was well worth it.  This cookie was good, but I am always always always on the lookout for the next best recipe.  Next up will be this one.  What is your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe?