Hi guys! I know its been few and far between for updates, I’m having a really busy start to my 2012. Besides my slow internet connection at the house and barely getting out and about to update, I’ve been baking up a storm.

I got an inquiry about a wedding cake in June (YAY!) and about a week was spent pricing that out. It would’ve only taken about an hour had the forms I drew up before didn’t “lose” themselves…So I had to start all over. Then 2 days later, THEY were gone too! Sigh! I tried out 2 buttercream recipes, the first was super fluffy so if you’re looking for a topper, its a good one. For a two layer cake though, not so much, icing went everywhere when I sliced into it!

The first few days in January involved CHOCOLATE! My mom brought home these delicious brownie bites from a work Christmas party and I had to cover them up so I wouldn’t eat any more! I decided to make my own anyway. I cheated on this one, I bought a box of brownies, used my tiny scoop and put them in a mini muffin pan (be careful so they don’t overbake!) and when they cooled, I used that aerosol can of chocolate frosting from Pillsbury and added a cute dollop to the top. Delicious!

On to these egg yolks…While pricing out the wedding cake, I had a LOT of cake going around the house. (I still have a bunch…) Of course, it was a white cake so I had a ton of egg yolks left over. I searched for what to do with them and I found quite a few recipes I wanted to try. 75% involving lemon. I’m quite a lemon addict if you don’t know it. I order water with lemon at restaurants, if you have a lemon wedge, I will offer to take it off your hands for you… =p and lemon bars, GAH! Don’t get me started! My first finds were yummy lemon pound cake and a lemon poppy seed loaf cake with a glaze. I made the pound cake but I added some poppy seeds, I was going to use the glaze on it too but I didn’t get that far. Then I was onto lemon bars. Like I said, one of my favorites! They turned out amazing! I rarely have luck with making my own lemon curd but this turned out fantastic! Then I was on to some savory recipes. I found a few but only made one, Grits and Cheese Souffle. My parents hate grits but Archie LOVES them. The recipe is in the newest Food Network magazine so I advise you to check it out. Its only a bit complicated, as you have to blend everything together so its smooth, then you fold it into a meringue type mixture (first time making souffle, forgive my terms! haha) and ladle into ramekins. They turned out so good!

Here are some pictures and the lemon bar recipe.

Shortbread Base

* 10 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold)
* 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
* 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
* 1 1/4 cups bleached all-purpose flour (dip and sweep method)

Lemon Curd Topping

* 4 large egg yolks
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 3 fl oz lemon juice, freshly squeezed (about 2 1/2 large lemons)
* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)
* Pinch of salt
* 2 tsp lemon zest (finely grated) I use my Microplane, which is great for when you need finely grated zest.
* 2 TB powdered sugar for dusting

EQUIPMENT:
8″ square, 2″ deep metal baking pan, bottom and 2 sides lined with an 8-inch by 16-inch strip of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
((I used my 11×7″ brownie pan))
Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes, wrap it, and refrigerate.

In a food processor with the metal blade, process the sugars for 1 minute or so, until the sugar is very fine. Add the butter and pulse in until the sugar disappears. Add the flour and pulse in until there are a lot of little moist crumbly pieces and no dry flour particles remain.

Dump the mixture into a plastic bag and press it together. Remove the dough from the plastic bag and knead it lightly, until it holds together.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Pat the dough into the prepared pan. Use a fork to prick the dough all over.

Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the top is pale golden (do not brown).

While the shortbread is baking, prepare the Lemon Curd Topping.

LEMON CURD RECIPE
Have a strainer, suspended over a bowl, ready near the range.

In a heavy saucepan, beat the egg yolks and sugar until well blended. Stir in lemon juice, butter, and salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 6 minutes, until thickened. It will thickly coat a wooden spoon but is still liquid enough to pour. (A candy thermometer will read 196°F.) The mixture will change from translucent to opaque and begin to take on a yellow color on the back of a wooden spoon. It must not be allowed to boil or it will curdle. (It will steam above 140°F. Whenever steaming occurs, remove the pan briefly from the heat, stirring constantly to prevent boiling.)

When the lemon curd recipe has thickened, pour it at once into the strainer. Press it with the back of a spoon until only the coarse residue remains. Discard the residue. Stir in the lemon zest.

When the shortbread is baked, remove it from the oven, lower the temperature to 300°F., pour the lemon curd on top of the shortbread, and return the lemon bars to the oven for 10 minutes.

Cool the lemon bars completely in the pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set the lemon curd completely before cutting. Dust with powdered sugar.

Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the pastry on the 2 unlined sides. Use the foil to lift out. Use a long, sharp knife to cut the lemon squares. Wipe the blade after each cut.

The powdered sugar will start to be absorbed into the lemon bars topping after several hours, but it can be reapplied before serving.

Sunday was my oldest nephew’s birthday so Saturday my sister had a party (see: )…fast forward to Friday evening, I had the cakes baked and carved into the nifty guitar that only rock worthy kids can dream up. I just got the base layer of green icing spread on. I was JUST about to finish the base and before I know it, the cake board WITH the cake, slides off the counter, into my hands…Probably the worst 5 seconds of my weekend as I slowly realized WHAT just happened…After tears and cursing cake, I gave up and Mom told me not to worry, she’d just order a cake from the store (bleh!) but I had a packed Saturday so I had no choice. All in all, Braeden did like the cake Mom got him so I just have next year to plan an even better cake theme. Mavvy was a help in cleaning it up, although for all those worried, we ended up cleaning it off him too in the end! But isn’t he adorable with all that icing!

Helping clean the mess!

Thanksgiving has come and gone, now everyone is getting in the Christmas spirit. I think I’d be more for the winter season if it didn’t involve too much snow and ice. Its the end of November and supposed to be in the 60′s! For PA, that’s strange. I have a feeling we’ll be on the receiving end of snow in April! Hope not, but when you live in an area your whole life, if it seems strange, its not the strangest…

All of the holiday baking/cooking supplies have been hitting shelves in stores since the day after Halloween. When Archie and I went to the store just the other day, I picked up some of that glowing fruit to make him a fruitcake. Typically my mom will make a yummy cranberry orange fruitcake and it is divine! Since I first found out Art likes those brick type cakes, I feel its my duty to experiment with one. I’ve got the radioactive fruit, the basting brandy (haha) and plenty of nuts (family not included!) so I’m ready to dive in! I’ve never actually had the “luxury” (or curse?) of getting one as a gift so I might find I enjoy it. I was searching for recipes and found a fruitcake cookie too! How cute does that sound? I’m actually pretty excited to try it out.

I’ll post results for the cookies later. As for the cake, most every recipe I’ve seen, gets basted in brandy once a week up to Christmas…Like I said, new thing for me! Happy Baking and Eating!

First attempt at traditional fruitcake...Art "says" its good...haha

Has everyone gotten their Christmas shopping done yet? Thanksgiving will be here in just mere weeks and before you realize it, the Christmas rush will be overwhelming. I’ve been doing more online shopping as of late. Probably so I can actually get those dozens of Christmas cookies made up! A lot of people make their cookies months in advance and freeze them. I’m not such a big fan on that, as I like fresh cookies. Once we make them, I like to have them distributed within a week or so. We make two types of fudge, Peanut Butter and Chocolate. I’d like to try peppermint but I don’t care for peppermint with a sweet linger. I like the sharp clean peppermint flavors so I’d have to work on the sugar of the fudge. I can’t help but remember the teaberry fudge from the apple orchard and the orange cream fudge a lady brought me at work last year. So good. Maybe I’ll have to make all four flavors or just switch them out this year. Usually I’m a stickler for tradition, so I cringe when Mom wants to try out a new recipe. When my pap passed away 10 years ago, we vowed to pick out a tree on his birthday, December 8th, from then on. We try to keep it up, unless it snows pretty bad. Tradition keeps a sense of calm in the world of busy. Until we turned 18, my sister and I always got an ornament and pajamas that we could open on Christmas Eve. Its things like that, that you remember most. Holiday’s are definitely times to treasure and make memories. I love having my nephews help with all the cookies, no matter the mess they make and what I have to “redo” in secret. I know years down the road, they’ll think back to it and remember the fun they had.

Here’s the chocolate fudge recipe. To make PB, instead of chocolate chips, use peanut butter chips, and also add 1/2 C. Peanut butter.

Fudge
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup margarine
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 12-oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 7-oz. jar Marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped nuts (I usually omit these…)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Microwave margarine in 4-quart microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) 1 minute or until melted. Add sugar and milk; mix well. Microwave on HIGH 5 minutes or until mixture begins to boil, stirring after 3 minutes. Mix well; scrape bowl. Continue microwaving on HIGH 5-1/2 minutes; stir after 3 minutes. Stir in chips until melted. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Cool at room temperature; cut into squares. Makes 3 pounds.

Can you believe we’re already in November!? Before Halloween was even a week away, the stores started putting CHRISTMAS items on the shelf!!! Don’t get me wrong, I love the holidays, but I just feel so rushed! I have a ton of Christmas baking to do, about 15 types of cookies to get done plus lets not forget gifts I need to get. Sigh. lol I think everyone is in that boat too! On the bright side, we’ve still got 47 days to shop! =D

Well this weekend, plans got all sorts of discombobulated so while my husband and dad went hunting, my mom and I had a girls day. Of course we went shopping (so no baking got done as planned). When we got home, I started on some more scones. I was in such a rush to get them done, I forgot to take pictures. But scones were made and my husband is thrilled, he takes them for breakfast. I made a double batch so he’s got plenty. Yesterday I busied myself with weekend dishes (such fun!!!) and more baking. On the game plan was “Monster Cookies” and a beautiful “Apple Tarte Tatin”. I’ve been having some issues with oatmeal type cookies lately so they didn’t turn out well, they were a mess. I have to do some finagling with the cookies and what keeps going wrong with them. The tarte, it was gorgeous. At first, I was trying to get dinner started and when I usually cook sugar, I’m constantly watching and keeping an eye on it. I’m only human and the first batch took advantage when I looked away, completely burnt. So I washed the pan and started over. It was so worth it! I cut everyone a slice for after dinner, Mom wanted a tiny slice so I gave the rest to Art. Then he went out to get another slice so I know he enjoyed it. Recipe and pics follow!

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the dish
1 1/4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced into 12 pieces
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Confectioners’ sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Generously butter a 9-inch glass pie dish and arrange the apples in the dish, cut side down.

Combine 1 cup of the granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it turns a warm amber color, about 360 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Swirl the pan but don’t stir. Pour evenly over the apple slices.

Meanwhile, cream the 6 tablespoons of butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Lower the speed and beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and, with the mixer on low speed, add it to the butter mixture. Mix only until combined.

Pour the cake batter evenly over the apple slices and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a flat plate. If an apple slice sticks, ease it out and replace it in the design on top of the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners’ sugar.