bake 52 week 19-- Crumb Cake!

Check out our hostess's site here  http://www.zollyzoo.com/inthekitchen/?p=507  for the recipe!  

Thanks for hosting, Jenn!!  I am such a huge fan of crumb cake I was so excited about this one! 

 Ingredients ready to go...

 I got to use my new beater, my mother's day gift!!  When we were getting married, my mom offered Ryan some gift giving advice-- something to the tune of nothing that plugs in-- but what can I say, I am just a totally different creature from my mother!! My favorite mother's day gifts have been this beater and my Dyson!!!  :)

 Batter...

 Batter with the crumbs.  I liked the idea of a cookie dough type topping-- it got my mind working and wondering what else I could come up with like this!  And, I had the crazy inkling to add blueberries right before the crumbs.  I will have to try this again with that addition, it sounded so good in my head!

 

YUM!  I loved this!!  Thanks for picking a winner, Jenn!

bake 52: week 17-- Baklava

 Talesha at otherthingsnice.blogspot.com is our bake52 host this week... and she chose Baklava!  I have never made Baklava before, so I was excited to try it out!


My girls wanted to help, and who can turn down these cuties? 

It was a fun process!  I thought spreading the butter out over the phyllo dough would never end, but it was still fun!

I took the tray to our son's Cubscout Pack Meeting, a little nervous how it would be received-- but WOW!  It was a hit!  I even had two friends text me about it afterwards.... now that is when you know it was something special!! 

I loved how sweet and moist this recipe is-- if I had one complaint about most Baklava I've tried, it would be that is was dry.  This one is not!

Visit Talesha for the recipe!

 

 

bake 52: week 16-- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. Well, sorta.

This week was hosted by Valerie!  Check her out here! Thanks for hosting, Valerie!

Today, as I was working on my pie, it hit me: I have views on pie. 

This week's bake52 challenge was Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, and try as I might, I just could not find rhubarb!  It was found my others in the group from California to Utah-- but here in my neck of the woods, not a stalk could be found.  So I did the next best thing: apple.  

{With my home-canned apple pie filling, no less!}  

As I was working on my pie, I felt my pie views taking shape right along with my all butter crust.  

I don't know about all of you other bake52 girls, but I am amazed at how well received my baking skills are!  Not to sound kitchen snobbish or anything, because let's face it, I'm no Amanda-- but seriously, whenever I take a pie or rolls or something around other people, they all seem genuinely shocked that anyone really makes pies or rolls from scratch these days!  We are a dying breed, ladies.  Women who are willing to put in hours to perfect what could be picked up in minutes from the bakery.  

A pie, made from scratch.  Could it be an endangered species?  

Last week we had this media circus following a poorly thought out statement about Ann Romney "never having worked a day in her life."  Seriously, it's a good thing some FBI agents were naughty in Columbia or we would have never heard the end of it!  {Although I really think the comment was meant as a dig at the Romney's wealth, the media seemed to focus on this idea of whether or not stay at home mothers really "worked"}  As all of the news commentators weighed in on this whole controversy over "stay at home moms", I couldn't help but think, "Wasn't this our mother's struggle?  Or wait... even... our Grandmothers?!?"  Can't women make their own choices about how to spend their time?  I understand not all women have the choice to make-- and I'm grateful I do.  As I ranted on facebook last week, I was humbled when an old friend from high school, now a single mom, "liked" my silly status and shared her thoughts on motherhood.  I have no beef with single or working mothers- I think we all stand together in trying to raise the next generation to be better than our own.  But it was made clear to me this week- there are really people out there who think "just being a mom" is a poor choice.  And I had to grapple with some of my own deep thoughts about "just" motherhood as my career choice. 

As I made my pie, my mind swirled with thoughts about my own choices and a path I've chosen.  A path that many in the world think is better to hand over to someone else.  My mind settled again on what my heart always knows: there is so much value in home. 

There is value in quietly making a pie only four other people will see-- they will devour the pie up along with the memory of a mother who gently went out of her way to provide little lovelies for them.  They can carry that with them as the enter the world, their confidence built up over the years with cookies and kisses.  A mother builds her children's anchor to home, and that anchor can ground them throughout their lives in a way nothing else can.  

I may not be bringing home any bacon but I am recognizing the value of frying it up and making it last.  No one will give me a promotion or award in recognition for my years of quiet family service- but there is a place deep inside my soul that whispers to me, "This has value!" 

There is value in the daily, monotonous, never ending service a mother gives to her family.  All mothers are working hard-- if they are doing it right.  I truly believe that as I look back on my life as a gray haired granny-- I will have joy and satisfaction in the ways I spent my days laboring.  

Back to the pie!  Check that beauty out!  See?  There is value in a made-from-scratch, made-by-your-mama, straight-from-the-oven pie.  You take a bite out of that and you know someone loves you!  

 This is the face of a boy who knows he is loved.  See?  Pie will do that.  Of course, it's just the tip of the ice berg.  This is a boy who has had ten years of good, old-fashioned, un-trendy motherhood showered down upon him.  He knows he is loved and valued, and with that comes an expectation in his own behavior and choices.

I'm pretty sure this is the face of a boy who knows better than to go on national TV and say something ugly about anyone's mama.  

Please, someone bake this man a pie.  

I'm jumping off my soapbox now!  Visit Valerie for the Rhubarb Pie recipe!  :)

bake52: week 15-- Chocolate Blackout Cake

Courtney was our host for bake52 this week!  She chose Chocolate Blackout Cake.

Girls, I'm not going to lie- I totally bombed this week.  My husband and children tried to cheerfully suffer through eating this baby, but seriously-- it was just because they love me.  It was truly awful.

I think it all went wrong with my choice of substitutions for the coffee in the cake.   I decided to puree blueberries to compliment the chocolate.  I should have known something was wrong when the recipe said the cake batter should be thin, and mine was like the consistency of brownies:

 oops.

Then, as my cake layers were cooling, the insides caved in.

 And in one case, just melted through my cooling rack:

 big oops. 

The final cake just did not look appealing to me-- it reminded me of a completely charred hamburger patty.  How is that for appetizing?!?! 

 Also, if I closed my eyes, I thought I was eating a blueberry muffin.  It was the weirdest thing.

Lesson learned: don't substitute blueberries for coffee.  And if I haven't completly disgusted you, you can visit http://cookinwithsnort.weebly.com/      for the recipe!


2.

bake 52: week 14-- Tres Leches Cake

 This week for bake52 we made Tres Leches Cake-- I had never had nor heard of this before!!  I was really skeptical.  I mean, if it was GOOD, shouldn't I have heard of it before??? 

 {Working on my batter}

 {My eggs whipped up!}

{The cake!}

So, this is pretty embarrassing.... but seriously, this cake was so good I totally forgot to take a picture of the finished product!!  Really!  I had the dish in the dishwasher before I realized my mistake.  This baby is GOOD!! :)  Visit Amanda for the recipe!  

bake52: week 13-- Crème brûlée

 This week was my week to host bake52!  Yipee!  I was so excited.  I knew from the start of bake52-- I wanted to make Crème brûlée!  And yes, I have my reasons.  Well, only one: to avoid further public humiliation.

I'll explain.  :)

We live in a pretty small town with limited dining out options-- but we discovered one little local place that serves YUMMY Crème brûlée!  We moved here when I was 7 months pregnant with our third baby, and let me tell you, our first two did NOTHING to prepare us for number three!!  Our little Miss was the type of baby and toddler{and now preschooler!} who often drove me to my wit's end, and I have to admit, there were many an afternoon when I thought to myself, "You know what would make this better?  A take out of Crème brûlée and a Diet Coke!"  I would then load the minivan up with my mini people and run out to treat myself, have a nice drive and often have several little ones out cold by the time we returned home.  It was a win-win.

Until the public humiliation day!

I arrived to pick up by call in order.  It had been a BAD morning.  I LOVE being a stay at home mom, but there are just some days that test the mettle of a mama!  This had been one of those days.  I was in my "exercise clothes" {although NO exercise was on my to-do list that day!}, I am sure I had spit up in my hair and just looked the part of the exhausted, worn out mom! 

There was a new girl at the front and she called out LOUDLY to another server, "That lady who called in a Crème brûlée and large Diet Coke to go is here!"-- just as a big group of local policemen were leaving the restaurant.  They all exchanged a look and started snickering!!  One even said, with his voice dripping in mock sympathy, "Bad day, huh Mom?" 

Oh my gosh!  I've never been so mortified!  Now, I have no doubt that if those tough men had been left on their own with Miss Grace for a half hour, they would have been begging for me to take her back. :)  That girl was born with a set of lungs and an iron will!  But I swore right then and there that I was going to learn how to make my own Crème brûlée so I would not repeat that same awful experience!!

Luckily for my waistline, my burned out baby brain had no motivation to learn a new recipe and a frozen yogurt place opened up and I headed there for my comfort instead!

My love of Crème brûlée started years ago-- I remember my husband taking me somewhere nice and trying to pick something sensible from the desert menu.  My logic looked something like this:
"Hmm... brownie sundaes....pies... I really want something light... Crème brûlée?  Well.... custard is like pudding.... some puddings are fat free... I'm gonna go with Crème brûlée!"  Obviously, looking over this recipe with it's 10 egg yolks and 4 cups of heavy cream I can see that my logic failed me!!  ha!

I thought this was a quick and elegant desert, something I'm excited to have in my arsenal for when I want to make something fancy for company!!  I hope you all enjoyed making it with me this week, thanks for participating! 

 Preparing my ramekins in a water bath

egg separating time!

 yikes!  That's a lot of yolks!

 

 Madagascar Vanilla Beans

 One bean-- only two come in the bottle.  

sliced in half and extracting seeds with a paring knife

tempering the eggs 

straining the custard

 poured into ramekins

after baking

 My son keeps calling this "Mom's flame-thrower" and it has made me SO cool to him!!  ha!

 post- flame throwing!

 caramelized sugar

 YUM!

THE RECIPE: 


If you don't have vanilla beans, stir 2 teaspoons vanilla extract into the yolk mixture and skip the 15-minute steeping time.  If using shallow ramekins, which normally hold 4 to 5 ounces, you may find that you have enough custard base for an extra one or two custards-- note also that they will bake more quickly, and give you more surface area for the caramelized sugar topping.  For making the caramelized sugar topping, we like to use turbinado sugar (or Sugar in the Raw), but granulated sugar can be substituted.  


Source: the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book



Ingredients

• 1 vanilla bean, slit lengthwise with a paring knife, seeds removed and reserved
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cups granulated sugar (4 2/3 ounces)
• Pinch salt
• 10 large egg yolk, room temperature
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar (see note above)

Directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Place a kitchen towel on the bottom of a large baking dish or roasting pan and arrange eight 6 ounce ramekins (or shallow fluted dishes) on the towel; set aside. Bring a kettle of water to a boil over high heat.
   
2. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean.  Combine the vanilla seeds, vanilla bean pod, 2 cups of the cream, granulated sugar, and salt together in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat and let steep to infuse the flavors, about 15 minutes.
   
3. After the cream has steeped, stir in the remaining 2 cups cream to cool down the mixture. Whisk the yolks together in a large bowl until uniform. Whisk about 1 cup of the cream mixture into the yolks until loosened and combined; repeat with 1 more cup of the cream. Add the remaining cream and whisk until evenly colored and thoroughly combined. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a 2-quart measuring cup or pitcher, discarding the solids. Pour or ladle the mixture evenly into the ramekins.
   
4. Gently place the baking dish with the ramekins on the oven rack. Pour the boiling water into the baking dish, being careful not to splash any water into the ramekins, until the water reaches two-thirds the height of the ramekins. Bake until the centers of the custards are just barely set and are no longer sloshy, and a digital instant-read thermometer inserted in the centers registers 170 to 175 degrees, 30 to 35 minutes (25 to 30 minutes for shallow fluted dishes). Begin checking the temperature about 5 minutes before the recommended time.
   
5. Transfer the ramekins from the baking dish to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.
   
6. To Store:
   
7. Wrap each ramekin tightly in plastic and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
   
8. To Serve:
   
9. Unwrap the ramekins; if condensation has collected on the custards, place a paper towel on the surface to soak up the moisture. Sprinkle each custard with about 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar (1 1/2 teaspoons for shallow fluted dishes); tilt and tap the ramekin for even coverage. Ignite a torch and, following the manufacturer’s instructions, caramelize the sugar by holding the end of the flame about 1 inch from the surface of the custard until the sugar melts, then burns to a golden brown, proceeding the same way until the entire surface is deeply golden brown and hard. Refrigerate the ramekins, uncovered, to rechill, about 30 minutes (but no longer).
   
10. To Serve Right Away
    
11. ill the baked custards as directed in step 6 until they are set, about 4 hours, before serving as directed in step 7.
    

 

bake52: week 11-- Ciabatta Bread

Emily was our bake52 host this week and she chose Ciabatta Bread! 

 Here is a shot of my bread rising- isn't that beautiful!?!  I felt so accomplished!

This recipe takes some time-- you start by making a sponge and letting it sit overnight, then multiple risings, etc.  I was so nervous, too-- this is a WET, sticky dough!!  I felt like I must have been doing something wrong the whole time!!

 Close up of the final rise--

Then, you bake it.  I was in HEAVEN while this thing baked-- I served it for dinner with Chicken Tortilla Soup and the aromas mixing together were perfect.  I really felt like I knew what I was doing and was feeling pretty darn proud of myself and my mad homemaking skills.  You know what they say, though-- pride cometh before the FALL! 

 My first, gorgeous, pride-inducing loaf!

 

...and my fallen loaf!! :) 

I don't know what happened.  I swear, I have to be the only person who can make two loaves from the same batch of dough and have them turn out so differently!  One was perfection.  One was tossed in the garbage!  My second loaf was flat {maybe it sat out too long while the other one was cooking and fell?} and dense and hard as a rock.  Pretty much the exact opposite of the first loaf!   Oh well, I guess you can't win them all!  

We loved the first loaf and if was the perfect accompaniment to our soup.  I will be making it again! 

Visit Emily's blog for the recipe!