Day 6 [part 2] - Thanksgiving Continued

Thursday, November 25, 2010

So after last nights fiasco I woke up with a new attitude and a clean oven! I decided to go ahead and make the lemon bars. I received a box mix for Ina Gartens Lemon bars for my birthday and decided to try it out. The box had separate packages for the crust, the filling and the topping. The only thing I needed to add was some butter and fresh squeezed lemon juice. It was a simple recipe but the fresh lemons really brightened it up and made a huge difference. Hope my family enjoys these later day!

Crust ready (Left) Lemon Bars Ready! (Right)

 All cut up

The last thing I decided to make was a batch homemade cream puffs. I had made them once before and they were pretty simple and incredibly delicious! The dough is called a "pate a choux" and you actually make it over the stove top. My favorite part of the process is putting the dough into a pipping bag and pipping small circles of dough on a baking sheet. After they bake for about 35 minutes, you are left with puffs of light and flakey dough - its awesome! The finishing touch is whipping up some fresh whipped cream [I'm not a fan of the pudding like fillings] and pipping the whipped cream inside the puffs by poking a small hole in the bottom of the puffs and filling them with a pipping bag [can you tell this is my favorite tool!?] Can't wait for everyone to eat these later!

Dough coming together

 All done!!

All in all, my baking was successful - everything came out great and I am excited to enjoy them later with my family! 

Happy Turkey Day :) 

Day 6 - Thanksgiving

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Ok, so it's NOT Sunday - but it is a big baking day because it's the day before THANKSGIVING!! We didn't bake on Sunday because with the holiday coming up, we were both super busy. Today Joanne wasn't able to bake so I [Lele] am on my own! I was off of work today so it gave me plenty of time to do my baking for thanksgiving. I have a lot to bake today [after all, we are having about 25 people!]- frozen key lime pie, apple pie, lemon bars, and let's not forget.. it's the big day for the cheesecake we practiced last week!

First up was the frozen key lime pie [I know it sounds a little summery but it is soo good!]. I made this for the first time 2 years ago for thanksgiving and it was a big hit - so I've been making it ever since. It's a recipe from Ina Garten. It is so delicious - it has a sweet and tart flavor and even though its a "frozen" key lime pie, it still has a smooth texture. The best part about it is that it is super easy. First I make the graham cracker crust (graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter) and then I make the filling. The filling consists of egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, sugar, fresh squeezed lime juice and lime zest. The pie came out great as usual [kind of hard to mess this one up!] and I am excited to serve it tomorrow.

Finished Key Lime Pie

Next, I was ready to attempt the cheesecake for the second time. I had to borrow Joanne's food processor. I only have a mini one and that would not do the trick - so THANKS JoJo!! The process went smoothly [no smoking food processor] and I couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic knowing that my Grandma and more recently my Aunt has made this exact recipe every year for Thanksgiving. The cheesecake came out great - it looked light and fluffy and had a golden top. Can't wait to share this with the whole family tomorrow! I'll be serving it with strawberries and whipped cream!

Finished Cheesecake

The next thing on my list to make is an apple pie. Every year my Mom or Dad make 2 apple pies. This year it's up to me [with Maria in Roma and Dean working late]! My goal is to make one but we'll see how many apples I end up with.. if it's enough, I'll make a second pie. The best part about my parent's apple pie is the amazing crumb topping - let's just say I'm terrified!

So I started by peeling and cutting up 12 apples that I picked up from Silverman's Farm yesterday. Once they were all cut up, I put them in a bowl (well actually, two bowls since I had so much!) and I added sugar, cinnamon and a little flour. I mixed the apples well so each slice was covered. I filled two pie crusts with the apples and the whole time I heard my Mom's voice in my head telling me to "make sure I really make a mound of apples because they'll cook down" and I did just that. Next came the crumb topping. I crumbled butter, brown sugar, flour and a dash of cinnamon. This was the point where I made a phone call to both my Mom and Dad just to make sure I was on the right track! After they eased my mind, I topped both pies and put them in the oven to bake.

Pies before going in the oven (pre and post crumb topping!)

When the pies were cooking, the oven was smoking the whole time from old crumbs on the bottom. I was also slightly concerned because the crumb topping was melting rather than staying in tact and browning [like Maria's]. Just when the pies were about done (so I thought) all of a sudden I saw flames inside the oven!! I mean BIG flames!! So of course I freaked out (thank God Anthony was here because if I was by myself it would have been worse). So I turned off the oven and kept the door closed and what else.. called my Dad! I asked if we should get the fire extinguisher because the flames were pretty big but he said no, to use salt instead. Just when we were getting the salt out, the flames went away and I was able to pull out my pies.. which amazingly looked okay [PHEW!!!]

Finished Apple Pies

Ok - so that ends my baking for the night! I actually think the fire started because while I had both pies on a cookie sheet, the butter topping was melting off the pies and was dripping off the cookie sheet and onto the bottom of the oven and we all know butter burns!! In any case, my Dad is going to clean out the oven tonight so we have no issues tomorrow for Thanksgiving :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!

Day 5 - Apple Strudel & Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

Sunday, November 14, 2010.

Today we were inspired to make birthday treats because it was Lele's birthday this weekend. We picked a chocolate cupcake recipe by Giada DeLaurentiis and an Apple Strudel.

We watched a video about how to make the apple strudel. It looked simple enough, we didn't really even need to follow a recipe. When it came down to using the phyllo dough we had MAJOR problems. It broke apart within the first few minutes we started working with it so we had to use the back up roll that we had on hand. This time we didn't take it out of the package until it was completely thawed and it seemed to work better. The apple mixture consisted of thinly sliced apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. We filled the phyllo dough with the apple filing and made a nice roll [sort of!] We then brushed the top with melted butter and put a dash of sugar to top it off and into the oven it went! We had a number of distractions during this process including a Skype call from Maria and a small cappuccino colored pony roaming the kitchen trying to swipe our goodies off of the counter. After about 30 minutes we saw a golden brown log with bubbly filling seeping out. When it was cooled and ready to be taste tested, we found we probably used to many layers of phyllo causing the shell to be dry. The inside however, was delicious. Next time we will use less dough and make sure it is flavored better.

We were especially excited to get working on the chocolate cupcakes. This recipe included some intermediate level techniques that are beyond a box bakers capabilities. [Although we have to admit - later on we made a box white cake mix and jazzed it up with some mini chocolate chips]. We mixed the batter together and it smelled super chocolatey.

Melting the chocolate

                                                        
                             Mixing the chocolate with the batter

                                        Ready to go in the oven!

While the cupcakes baked we made a chocolate ganache to dip the cooled cupcakes in. To make the ganache we heated heavy whipping cream with some vanilla extract. Once it was hot, we took it off the heat and mixed in the semi sweet chocolate chips until it formed a smooth, shiny dip.

                              Making the ganache

We dipped each cupcake into the ganache and had a taste test….WOOWWW!! They were so amazing! This was more than we can ask for. The cake was chocolatey and moist  with warm pockets of melted chocolate chunks on the inside. Topped off with more chocolate and we were in heaven!

Today was somewhat of a success. Despite the kitchen being a mess we are so proud of our treats. There is going to be a quite a spread at tonight's birthday party!

Stay tuned for next week..

Day 4 - Cheesecake

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Our FOUTH baking session:

Here we are again, ready to bake! We are more excited to bake during this time of year because its the holiday time and there always seems to be a party to bake for! This week we are making Grandma Irene's Cheesecake [okay so we were slacking a bit since we usually make two items - but this was quite a project!] She used to make it for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and everyone in our extended family would look forward to it. Since her passing, Aunt Deb has taken over the role of making the cheesecake and she does a fantastic job [it tastes just like Grandmas!] This year its up to me (Lele) to make for Thanksgiving, so we figured we better test out the recipe before the actual day.

The first and easiest step was making the graham cracker crust with graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar. We pressed the crumbs into the spring pan using our fingers to create an even crust.

The main tool we used to create the filling is the food processor. We mixed together the cream cheese, sugar, and flour. It took a little while for the mixture to come together because the cream cheese was cold. Apparently we were working the food processor too hard because it started to smoke!! We opened the windows and let it cool down. We also let the cream cheese soften a bit before we started to mix it again. We added the egg yolks which helped the mixture come together into a smooth consistency. Lastly we added the sour cream. Once the mixture was silky smooth we poured it into a bowl. We whipped some egg whites together until it formed fluffy, white peaks. We folded the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture and it was then that we realized this is what makes this particular cheesecake so light and fluffy!
                                                                

                                  

                              

We poured the cheesecake mixture over the graham cracker crust and placed it into the oven to bake. After it had been in there for an hour, the burning smell of the food processor slowly went away and the sweet aroma of the cheesecake filled the air. After the hour you turn off the heat and keep the cake in the oven for a half an hour. After that, you open the oven door and leave the cheesecake in there another half an hour [quite a project, but totally worth it!]

Side Note: While the cheesecake cooked, we took a ride down to Silverman's Farm to pick up some apples and check out their baked goods. If you are ever in the area, take some time to check out Silverman's Farm! Not only are their apples delicious but their baked goods look and taste amazing [we couldn't help but to pick up a few things to sample!!] Definitely got some inspiration from there.. don't be surprised if next week we bake with apples!!

When the cheesecake was finished, it had a beautiful golden hue and looked great! The only thing was that it had a pretty large crack in the center, although we hear that this happens frequently with cheesecakes and it doesn't alter the taste at all [phew.. we were almost ready to call Aunt Deb in a panic!]

After the cake was completely cooled we set it in the refrigerator to chill and anxiously awaited the evening when we would try it for the first time!

Later that night, we brought the cake to a few family members and tried it for the first time. It was delicious!! It was light and airy which makes it stand out from every other store bought cheesecake, it's just amazing! The other great thing about it is that you can flavor it or serve it with anything you like.. chocolate sauce, caramel, whipped cream or our favorite, fresh strawberries! Needless to say, everyone in our families can rest easy and get excited for thanksgiving because Grandma Irene's cheesecake will be present :)

This weeks experience was rather relaxed. With just a few simple ingredients and a set of short directions, we were able to be laid back and feel more like we were doing this for family [which we were!] and that was extremely rewarding.

Stay tuned for next week...