Chocolate Chip Meringues

So... I think I have an unhealthy obsession with egg whites.  I guess not just egg whites in general, but mostly with how they behave when whipped for long periods of time along with sugar and a little cream of tartar.  No matter how many times I do this, no matter the recipe, whether it be for frosting, pie topping, candy, or meringue cookies, I just stare in utter amazement at my mixer as it transforms a quarter of a cup of translucent goop into fluffy white pillowy peaks of awesomeness.  Am I the only one who is amazed by this?  Probably so... but I never said I was normal, people, never.  What fun would that be anyway? 

Naturally I gravitate towards recipes that include the aforementioned "miracle".  Accordingly, tonight I couldn't stop thinking about meringue cookies, so I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen (a completely brilliant blog, by the way) and decided to give it a shot.  Like clockwork, the magic occurred in my mixer once again.  This is a super simple recipe (as most meringue recipes are).  They keys are room temperature egg whites and patience while the egg whites are mixing (although with only two egg whites in this recipe, the patience required is fairly minimal).  The original recipe called for toasted pecans or walnuts, however not having any on hand, I omitted them and the cookies still tasted amazing.  I imagine this addition would make these puffy little bites of heaven even more delicious, so next time I'll try adding them.

Recipe

Lemon Scones

Last night I had the opportunity to do two things I absolutely adore: spending time with my sweet sister, Christina, and baking lemon scones. Lemon scones are kind of my "thing"-- there's just something delightful about a recipe that is so simple and satisfying.  The scones I remember from my youth were so dense they could have doubled as door stops, but these are light and fluffy with a fresh lemon flavor!

 The recipe below is one that I created as a hybrid of 3 different recipes when making a huge quantity of scones for Christina's baby shower about a year and a half ago. Last night, we got together to make six (yes, SIX) batches of lemon scones for her sister-in-law Carolyn's bridal shower. We had a great time, and got the six batches done in record time (especially considering that there was plenty of chatting and some wine sipping involved)!

 This is a ridiculously easy recipe that takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, including baking. And best of all, you probably already have most of the ingredients in your kitchen!

Recipe

Triple Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

Dear readers, I must confess something to you. Before I embarked on this most recent baking adventure, I took ten deep breathes, meditated for five minutes, prayed to the baking gods, and chanted a little bit. And I'm (mostly) not kidding. I first tried this recipe almost a year ago and nearly ended up having an anxiety attack. You see, I'm not someone who deals well with failure, particularly in the baking arena. I was preparing these cupcakes in a mad rush for a dinner party (mistake #1) and for some reason I found everything about the recipe, particularly the frosting, nerve wracking. The cupcakes actually turned out fine- and were even met with high praise by my parents (but they're my PARENTS, the incredibly sweet loving folks who used to proudly display my disastrous finger paintings on the refrigerator!) Bottom line, they had texture issues- the frosting was a wee bit lumpy and the cake was a little dry, and worst of all, the cupcakes were, in my mind, tinged with anxiety and mediocrity.

Fast forward one year, and here I was, ready to take on the mighty triple chocolate ganache cupcake monster once again. After the proper preparations (prayer, chanting, offerings to the baking gods), I started on the cupcakes, this time ensuring I had plenty to time (no dinner party) and the right baking music (the Fleetwood Mac station on Pandora). To make along story short, they turned out much better this time, and I'm finally recovering from the cupcake trauma of 2010. This time the only hitch was having to remake the Italian meringue buttercream frosting-- after accidentally buying and using salted butter, the frosting was way too salty. Even that though, has a positive side. I thought the original recipe I was using had an excessive amount of butter, even for buttercream frosting. In an effort not to have to make another run to the store, I found an alternate recipe that was quite a bit easier and used less butter.

The official verdict is that these cupcakes rock, according to people who aren't obligated to love me or my baking and who certainly don't give out false compliments. Amazingly chocolatey, great texture, delicious frosting-- I dare say the best chocolate cupcake I've ever had (and I've had my share, believe me!). They're a bit of effort, but completely worth it for an outcome that is leaps and bounds above your average run-of-the-mill chocolate cupcake. So, go ahead, lay an offering of frankincense, gold, and myrrh at the foot of your Kitchen Aid stand mixer, turn on your favorite baking music, and get started. It's SO worth it!

Recipe

Marshmallow Fluff Rice Krispy Treats

Rice Krispy Treats are a classic, and for good reason-- who can resist the ooey gooey sweet chewy and crunchy taste of this confection? As a vegetarian, though, I struggle with these, because the traditional recipe contains marshmallows, which contain gelatin which contains... well, I won't say it here, but let's just say I don't find it very appetizing. So as an alternative, I tried making these with marshmallow fluff, because it does not contain gelatin.

All in all, the taste was awesome-- my only qualm is with the texture-- the darn things want to fall apart when they get warm.  I let them set in the freezer, and they were perfectly firm, but after they'd been on the counter for a half hour or so, they started to sort of fall apart.  Not very practical for a bakery.  I think I'll try reducing the amount of butter next time to see if that helps.

Recipe

Hudson's Smash Cake- Epilogue

To my utter delight, Hudson did, indeed, smash the cake all through his cute little fingers.  And he picked up the letter blocks and clapped them together, getting frosting EVERYWHERE.  Mommy and Daddy had to bathe him in the sink because he was covered head to toe! Oh what a proud auntie I am!

Hudson's Smash Cake- Part 3

Aaaannnd it's done!

I have to say this was quite an adventure and I absolutely have newfound respect for cake decorators- this stuff isn't easy!

The cake didn't turn out precisely as I'd planned, but I still think it was a good first attempt at cake decorating. And as I've mentioned before, the purpose of this cake is for it to be smashed between Hudson's fingers, not admired for its form and beauty. So in light of that, I'm trying not to hold myself to too high a standard, however difficult that may be for someone who tends to have "unrelenting standards", or so I've been told!

The cake itself turned out nicely... the second time around. After a killer 16-hour workday, I decided to bake the cake last night.  I realized (too late) that normal common sense eludes me after a certain number of hours working my crazy job. So, of course, when I got home at 11pm, I thought... "let's bake that cake!"  Two words: bad.idea. I made the full recipe (see below) which was for two 9" round pans and poured the entire recipe into two 6" round pans.  The result?  The pans runneth over with batter, the oven was an unspeakable disaster, and I narrowly averted setting off the fire alarm during this middle of the night baking adventure.  I crawled into bed at 2am with a smoke-filled house and an oven that looked like a war zone, just thankful the house was still standing. This morning I surveyed the damage, cleaned the oven, and started over.  This time, I halved the original recipe and voila... it's amazing how things can work out when you consider the basic laws of chemistry and physics while baking.

The 3D "1" didn't happen, but I think that the letters turned out quite nicely.  I made a fluffy white frosting that doesn't contain any fat (and should, theoretically, be easier to clean up off the birthday boy than greasy buttercream).

So it's all done and I can't wait for Hudson to smoosh his cute little fingers into it!

Recipes for cake and frosting below:

Hudson's Smash Cake- Part 2

Other (probably more fitting) titles for this blog post include...

• Watching Cake Boss episodes on Netflix does not MAKE me a Cake Boss
• Why People Pay Professional Bakers Hundreds of Dollars to Make Cakes
• Thank Goodness This is a Smash Cake and Not the Real Cake
• Let's Just Pretend This Cake was Made Not Only for a 1 Year Old, but also BY a One Year Old
• and finally.... Eff You, Fondant (pardon the implied profanity)

So yes, tonight I worked on the fondant letters for Hudson's smash cake.  It was hard. I'm starting to understand why people take classes for cake decorating. Let's just say I'm um... humbled... by my efforts tonight and I'll be signing up for a cake decorating/fondant class soon.  

But the letter blocks are done!  They aren't perfect by any stretch, but they are done, and they do look like blocks with letters on them, which is what I was going for.  I learned that you have to work very quickly with fondant or it dries out and cracks.  I'm not sure if there's any way to smooth fondant out that has cracked, but if there is, I didn't discover it tonight. 

My efforts at a 3D "1" made of rice crispy treats and covered in fondant were pretty frustrating... the results were scary.  The fondant wouldn't smoothly cover the surface and began cracking and falling off.  I should have taken a picture, but I tossed it in the trash in a fit of rage... just kidding...sort of. 

The good news is, the letters are done and I've picked out the cake and icing recipes I'm going to use, so all that's left is the easy stuff- the baking!  I'm still going to try to figure out if I can somehow get a 3D "1" of some sort on the cake.

I'm planning to finish up the cake on Friday night and I'll post a final update and pictures afterwards.