Recipe! Berry Almond Biscotti

Picked blackberries and blueberries this week so I decided to create a new biscotti! (My family loves biscotti...plus it's fun to bake. You get to do it twice. Heehee.) 

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 and 1/2 cups flour 
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2/3 cup berries
• 1/3 cup sliced or chopped almonds
• White chocolate for dipping or drizzling

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray cookie sheets with no stick spray or line them with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl (or your stand mixer), beat together the oil, eggs, sugar and almond extract until well blended. Combine the flour and baking powder in another bowl, stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough. Add the nuts and berries and stir into the dough. If the berries are really tender they might bleed juice into the dough but that will just make them a little purple. If they are particularly juicy feel free to add more flour to the dough so that it will be good enough to form. Then divide the dough in two. Form each piece into a roll as long as your cookie sheet. Place rolls onto the prepared cookie sheet, and press/pat/smush it down till it's 1/2 inch thick.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack. When the loaves are cool enough to handle (as soon as possible since the warm loaves cut with less crumbles the warmer they are), slice each one crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Place the slices cut side up back onto the baking sheet. Bake for an additional 6 to 10 minutes on each side. 8 minutes is usually the perfect amount for my oven, but of course your's could be different. Slices should be lightly toasted.
4. When they cookies are completely cool, melt the white chocolate. You can do this in the microwave 20 seconds at a time or on the  stove top in a double boiler. I tend to just stick with the microwave because it's faster and less mess. Remember, stirring chocolate as it melts is the most important step! 
5. Dip the biscotti in the white chocolate or drizzle them using a fork. 
6. Enjoy them with tea or coffee or milk or even diet coke like my dad! ;)

Happy Baking Everyone!

New Cupcake Flavor!

It's been awhile since I tackled a new cupcake flavor. I perfected my Blackberry Cupcake til it reached perfection but I haven't made a completely new cupcake in a month. (hey! that's a long time for a cupcake fanatic like me, ok?)
This month the ladies at my church are having their annual brunch to kick off the bible study program for this year and they have asked me to host it again!
(Check out last year's post here)
I had a blast last time and it was one of my favorite catering experiences, even if the smell of mushrooms did make me and my sister queasy. ;) So I'm ready to attack this one with gusto! There's something about autumn that just puts my baker side into gear. I love being in the kitchen when it's fall. All the colder weather and beautiful colors go to my head and I go baking crazy! And sure enough now that it's turned September and I'm waking up to colder mornings...well, let's just say I'm really really (really) excited.
I planned the menu for the ladies event about a week ago; I'm really looking forward to it. Of course, I'm planning on having three flavors of cupcakes, just like last year. But I didn't want them to be the same ones, even if they did get gobbled up and raved over. So I decided a nice coffee cupcake would be a nice adult flavor that would go perfectly with a brunch. And boy, am I glad I did...these might be the best cupcakes yet!

I wasn't actually going to post any pictures. They were, after all, just a taste tester. But when my sister saw it she couldn't eat it without whipping out her camera.
"WAIT!" she cried right before my mom put one in her mouth. "Can I take pictures first?" *insert puppydog face here* Of course I couldn't deny her. Who doesn't like having their culinary exploits enthusiastically photographed with vigor in awesome lighting?

So here's the break down of the cupcake himself. 

Coffee Chocolate cake soaked in Kahlua syrup frosted with Mocha Cream Cheese frosting and topped with shavings of bitter chocolate and a dash of cinnamon! 

I did it!

I have finally done it...it's been on my bucket list for years and it's always been something I've dreamed of doing and now it's done!
I made a wedding cake.
:D
Ok, so it didn't turn out as good as I had hoped, but the good news is I get to do another one in November.

Amy and Max were such a nice couple and their wedding was sweet and fun. I saw them last Sunday a few days after they got back from their honeymoon and they looked so happy. I was really blessed to be able to do all their wedding food. A thousand thanks, Mr and Mrs Ford! :)

The Menu:

Mini Quiches

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Mushroom and Brie Tarts

Fruit Kabobs

Pesto Rolls

Wedding Cake! ;) (White chocolate raspberry and coconut layers)
Lemonade Sherbet Punch

The camera died really early on into the whole event so I have very few pictures of the food. :( But the reviews were all raving and lots of people came up to me this week to tell me how tasty it was. I was so happy it went so well since I was sick the day of the wedding and was stressing out the entire time. Lots of prayers were sent my way and they worked! Thanks everyone... <3

Mini Quiches with Swiss, Cheddar and Ham

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus right before they headed into the oven. These were a hit! Everyone I talk to mentions how good these are.

Layering the cake to make sure it's all to scale...

Royal icing flowers for the cake drying

And of course, the cake itself. Sorry for the AWFUL picture. Like I said, the camera died at this point. :( And I think it tasted better than it looked. Heh.

If you ever need you house to smell nice...

Make some of these! :)

I love making biscotti. There's something about patting the little lump of dough into a loaf, taking it out of the oven and slicing it while still warm, eating the soft ends and crisping the rest of the slices...it's one of my favorite kitchen processes. (Right up there with canning jam and browning meringue, haha!)
Last time I made biscotti it was more of a springtime crunch: orange cranberry. This time I went for something cuddly and fragrant. You know how you feel when it's raining outside and you pull a quilt out of the dryer fresh and warm and you wrap yourself up in it and breath deep? I wanted to make biscotti that tasted (and smelled) the way that feels. Like a cocoon of contentedness.

Mmmm...
And the best part? It's low fat and low sugar but still tastes all snuggly warm!

Want the recipe yet? Sure you do!

• 
  
• Spiced Caramel Biscotti
• Makes 42
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon each of nutmeg and ground cloves
• 
  
• Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets with Pam spray or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, spices and baking powder, stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough. Divide dough into two pieces. Your hands will get pretty sticky. Try to resist flouring them or the dough. Use a rubber spatula or wax paper to help form each half into a roll as long as your cookie sheet. Place roll onto the prepared cookie sheet, and press down to 1/2 inch thickness.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack. When the loaves are cool enough to handle (you still want them warm so they don't crumble), slice each one crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Place the slices cut side up back onto the baking sheet. Bake for an additional 6 to 8 minutes on each side. Slices should be lightly toasted and crunchy.
4. If you would like, you can drizzle them with caramel sauce but this add calories and makes em a bit sticky. Of course, this didn't stop me at all. ;) On goes the caramel! 
5. 
   

Happy munching!

Pina Coladaaaaaa!

So.
I'm getting ready to cater my very very first wedding ever! I am 8 parts excited, 12 parts nervous. I'm hoping that soon the excitement rises on the excitometer and the nervousness kinda ebbs away.
I usually find that worrying about something is
a. no help at all. Sleeplessness is always a bad thing.
b. laughable after it's all over. I always do better than I expect.
A few weeks ago I was able to go to the bride's shower, meet her grandmother, her aunt, cousin, and all her friends. They were all nice pleasurable people that love Amy very much. I gave her a kitchen utensil set and also 2 dozen of these babies:

Pina Colada Cupcakes! 

Her and her mom adore coconut, but they also picked that flavor for the wedding cake itself so I didn't want to just make coconut cupcakes for the shower. I had some cherries and canned pineapple so hey. HEY! Pina Colada, right? right!

According to the popular opinion these were AMAZING!! Amazing with an extra zing...my mom actually took home three extras from the shower and she never has seconds (she is a figure watching ninja...)

They were all over facebook the next day. I probably got a little too prideful about em, if I have to speak truth. But my last two experimental batches just didn't turn out too well so I was very very happy. 

The only thing I would change about it would be to add a little more Rum extract. I adapted my recipe from Glorious Treats. I didn't think Cream cheese frosting would hold up as well (it tends to get soupy) So I made a batch of coconut butter cream. THAT was my favorite part. mmmm....Oh. That and eating the leftover dried pineapple pieces. They're like candy! 

Of course, these awesome photos were taken by my ever lovely and talented sister, Laura. She just bought an Olympus something or other (I really don't know anything about cameras. But her's is like magic.) and so she really put it to work. Laura can make any camera pump out great looking photos, but Lucy (that's the new camera's name) puts her into the supernatural category of photography. :) 

Chocolate Donuts!

Every Sunday when my mom organizes the kid worship at church, she offers donuts to the team to compensate for asking them to get to the church building at the crack of dawn. (Ever wonder why the word "dawn" definitely rhymes with "YAWN"? Yeah, I know. Why didn't you notice that til now?)
Usually she ends up running late because she has to drive down to Safeway and get a box of average looking and tasting donuts. She hates it. Like, really really abhors detests HATES it. It's the worst part of her morning. So I took it upon my baker self to make homemade donuts for everyone. It was a win win win situation. I get to spend all night (and some parts of the early morning) in the kitchen, my mom wouldn't have to drive to Safeway and pick the least-stale box of donuts and thus avoid late arrival at church, and everyone would get to eat homemade donuts!

These should make about 3 dozen (plus donut holes!). I don't have a donut cutter so I just used a biscuit cutter and then a pastry tip turned upside down to cut out the middles.

• 4 1/2 c flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 c sugar
• 2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
• 1 c milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Sift together the dry ingredients.
2. Beat eggs with sugar until light.
3. Add butter, milk, and vanilla.
4. Add dry ingredients and mix until a soft dough is formed. Do not over mix, it will make your donuts hard and stiff instead of fluffy.
5. If dough is too soft to roll, chill it for half an hour.
6. Roll dough out 1/2 inch thick on a floured surface and cut with donut cutters.
7. Fry in hot oil until golden on both sides, turning once. (I'm guessing the oil was about 350 degrees, I just eyeballed it because my thermometer is broken.)
8. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon, hold over hot oil for a few minutes to drain, and then finish draining on paper towels.
9. Top/decorate them however you like! I shook them in a bag with cinnamon and sugar or powdered sugar for the church goers. We also made a chocolate glaze with cocoa powder, sugar, and milk and topped them with chocolate jimmies. You could cover them with nuts or rainbow sprinkles too if you wanted. :)

Cupcake Challenge: Inspire me Cupcake

Week two!
I'm still excited about the cupcake challenge, but this is the second week in a row that the cupcakes haven't turned out right. The first (Cherry Limeade) I blogged right away about the cupcakes and yes, for the first day they were awesome! But when I put them away and tried them the next morning it was like eating playdough! >:P Blech. They got super chewy and hard and gross. I was significantly fallen.

This week I made Rocky Road cupcakes. Like last week, I followed a recipe from the internet...
I think I might have to stop doing that.

These weren't as bad as the last batch, but they weren't very good either. The cake itself was really dry and hard to eat. When they first came out of the oven they were like brownies so that was good. It's just when they had cooled they lost that brownie trait and became crumbly bricks. :(
I think in the future I'll use my own chocolate cake recipe because, quite honestly, it kicks some cupcake booty.
Decoration wise they were magnificent. Topped with a chocolate ganache, melted marshmallows, and chopped nuts...everyone that ate one ate it because they LOOKED delicious, not because they actually were. ;)

So already, even on week two, I'm learning things!
1. You aren't going to get it perfect the first time through. You'll have to go back, tweak things, work it through and put elbow grease into your recipes to make them as good as you want.
2. If a blog is cute and everyone raves about the author/photos/cuteness factor/creativeness it doesn't necessarily mean that their product is actually good. It could end up being really sucky.
3. If at first you aren't happy, get back up and turn on that kitchen aide again. You'll always be good at baking something (Like homemade donuts for instance!)