elanya

I made macarons! Almond with raspberry cheesecake icing. They turned out okay - I was pretty impatient with them, and my tools were not ideal. So they were too soggy in the middle. But they were damned delicious, and I have a few idea what to do differently if (when) I try them again. I blame #yuletide for getting me thinking about experimental baking. I mean, I followed a recipe for the macarons, I'd just never done them before. But the icing was all by the seat of my pants: ~1/4 C each of butter and cream cheese, a big spoonful of raspberry jam, and icing until it came together at a good consistency. I didn't measure anything super precisely, just tossed it in the kitchenaid :V It tastes amazing: A++ would make again.

I mad them because we were going to a friend's place tonight and she has gluten issues. I was going to make a simpler mint meringue cookie, but then we didn't have the mint stuff and we *did* have almonds, and at that point I figured fuck it, just go for it! They have been devoured, at home and away. We (Longpig and I) went over for tacos and boardgames, and it was a very successful evening. Tacos were delicious, I ate too much candy, and we played several different short games for small groups (4 people), which was a nice change form games for large groups that take a long time. We played Ticket to Ride (my first time), Fluxx, and Carcasonne. I also drank a lot of rum and ginger, and ate waaaay too much candy.

Other than that, I played a lot with the kids today. We played pirates, and raided the granola bars, which was extra great because we weren't supposed to but also it was harmless ;) OTOH there was a lice scare in the littlest's class, and he has some sign so now I'm very much freaking out about that. For those who don't know me/have never seen pics, I have waist length hair... I'll get someone to check for me tomorrow - it really needed a good washing first. Here's hoping...

Crust:
Crushed gingersnaps (~4 oz, prferably), 4tbsp butter, mixed together, pressed into base of springform pan, baked for 7 min at 350. Cool

Cake:
16oz/1lb cream cheese
2tsp ginger paste (I used it from a jar, but you could use fresh grated ginger I'm sure)
3 tbsp amber rum
1 tsp molasses
2/3 C sugar
zest of 1 lime
3 large eggs
1/3 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream

Beat cream cheese until fluffy, add everything else. Pour into springform pan. Bake at 325 for 45 min.

That's how far I've gotten - it is in the oven now.

I'm planning to top it with more yogurt, sugar, lime juice and/or zest, and then decorate with candied ginger.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

I think next time I might use 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks?

ETA: Topping: 1C Greek yogurt or sour cream, juice of 1 lime (if it is juicy! probably 1-1 1/2 tbsp?), 1/3 C sugar, mixed. Pour on cheesecake, smooth out, and stick it back in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

Cool and chill cheesecake overnight, enjoy the next day! I have candied ginger I meant to put on top as well, but I forgot :(


Dark and stormy cheesecake!

No big plans, but some plans none the less. I have already accomplished some of them, which is good because it is now after eleven! I have walked the dog, showered, made and consumed pancakes, and listened to today's Welcome to Night Vale. Which, btw, was really good! I think it is my favourite so far of the Zack Parsons episodes. I like the stuff about Nulogorsk. And that telephone is crying out for a Person of Interest crossover.

My other plans for the day involve baking bread (already started, actually - I have the oatmeal sitting and have a timer set so I can bloom the yeast), and trying to finish my Diablotin Space AU before Fan Flashworks closes. We'll see how that goes - I think I have a good handle on the rest of it, and it isn't going to be super long overall. It is a shortened, bastardized version of the first adventure of the game. I included all the PCs, mostly because i wanted to write from Kalman's PoV, and because I wanted them to be an established group already. Anyway, I hope people will find it fun :D

Gonna get working on that now, and maybe catch up on more of Our Fair City while I am kneading bread...

I am house sitting again this summer, which I believe I have mentioned in a previous post.

The house where I'm staying has a lot of baking things, which I am encouraged to take advantage of. They also have a really nifty "toaster" oven, which is really just... a mini oven. To go with it, they have a ton of mini baking pans! Anyway, today I was inspired to bake a mini cake. I made a little photo essay of the process over here at imgur. A few notes to go with:

I halved my original cake recipe, and since there is no shortening here that I can find, used butter instead, and added a splash of oil as well to help compensate. I also used powdered eggs, which I am dubious about because I am low on real eggs (one left!). But they seem to work out fine, at least in baking. I dunno if I'd want to make an omelet with 'em, but apparently you can.

The cake took a lot longer to bake than I was expecting - about 25-30 min per round. I didn't really have enough icing sugar, so my icing was running and didn't really cover as much as I'd wanted. I also had to make extra cherries for the filling, so in those shots of cherries cooking down if there are obvious discrepancies it is because they are from different batches ;) The first round stuck to the pan a bit (sadface!) but I think that si because I didn't let it cool long enough before getting it out. The second one was fine. There was some discrepancy between the round sizes as well - since I only had the one pan, I did them sequentially, and underestimated what half the batter was the first time around.

I wound up making cream cheese frosting because I had cream cheese, and want to save the rest of my butter for other baking endeavours. Plus I didn't really see how chocolate + cherry + cream cheese could be bad. I haven't actually cracked in to it yet - I am trying to be good, and I figured I'd have dinner first...

I'll add a pic to the photo album once I do :)

Oh yes - I also made a delicious beer bread the other that that turned out *really* well and didn't need any kneading. It is a yeast bread, so needs a while to rise, but honestly the kneading is the part of bread that kills me. I wish the kitchen-aid here had a dough hook!

Today I made a delicious thing! So good! I made vanilla cupcakes, using a de-veganized version of the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the Word vanilla recipe (I used real milk - shock!). The recipe I used is here. I used the oil version, with canola oil, and used a cup of milk with a tablespoon of white vinegar to curdle it - presumably you could just use straight-up buttermilk if you had some. I might have used my almond milk, but I didn't want an almond flavour for what was coming next!

( More + pics below cut! )

Forestry Pudding is something my mom used to make that I have recently had a big craving for. It is a sort of self-saucing spice pudding - a pudding in the old-style English sense. i suspect it was probably even originally made with suet ;p

I went looking for recipes online and found... absolutely nothing. Just a couple other people asking for recipes! Well I am trying to make it now - I say trying because I'm improvising on various things (I don't have a bunt pan, for example, though I hope to get one soon!), but I know this recipe to be sound when you aren't mucking all about with it. This uses my mother's biscuit mix recipe (included below), and I think you could use any other kind of biscuit base, like Bisquick, to the same effect. Thanks to my sister, who typed all this up a few years ago :)

( Recipes below the cut! )

This is the recipe I concocted for the pie I took to the Hallowe'en party yesterday. I went over really well and is delicious for breakfast - don't judge me!

4 large (but not ridiculously large) apples (I used organic gala apples) - about 5-6 cups cut up.
3/4 C dark brown sugar
1/4 C flour
1/4 C dark rum
1-2 tsp cinnamon (I eyeballed it)

Preheat oven to 450. Mix together and let sit for ~10 min, then place in your prepared crust (I always make my own, 'cause that's how I roll, and I'm sure lonpig or I have posted that recipe before - if anyone wants it I can dig it up). Don't forget to cut steam vents in the top crust, and you can also place a cookie sheet on the rack below if you are worried about it bubbling over. This would probably also be good with a crumble or crisp style topping (butter, oatmeal, brown sugar).

I based my baking times on the joy of cooking, which said to go for 30 min at 450, and then another 30-45 at 350. This is crazypants, and I actually baked this one at 450 for 20 min and then 350 for 15. I would recommend 450 (or even 400) for 15 and 350 for 20-30. Your pie is done when it is golden brown on top and the apples are softened (poke with skewer or knife through the steamvents to test) and/or there is juice bubbling up through the vents.

Enjoy - delicious with vanilla ice cream or a slice of sharp cheddar :)

Pampered chef order arrived!

Now I want to make a cheesecake @_@

I kind of want an icon that says 'cake tease' on it. Hee!

I made a chocolate cake yesterday. because I had cherries that needed to be cooked before I lost them. Those I stewed with honey and amaretto. OMG. I wish i had some vanilla ice cream!

The day before yesterday (yesterday, even!), I had to have my AC on to keep the temperature between 80 (26) and 85 (29). Today i have the head on to keep it between 60 (15) and 65 (18). Sheesh!

Ahh well - time for pie!

ETA: Hey if anyone is looking for something to get me for Christmas still, I could use a cool funky apron! Or really any apron. I would like an apron please -_-

*is covered in flour*

Ooh, there is this BPAL one I'd forgot about :o But really other fun aprons are also good o_O