Sunday, March 27, 2011
This week we decided to tackle homemade brownies. We had made them once before but we weren't thrilled with the way they came out. We found a recipe called "Everyday Brownies" which sounded perfect for what we were looking for. Brownies are a go to dessert that everyone loves - so we wanted to find a homemade recipe so we can ditch the box mixes!
This recipe was very different then any brownie or cake recipe we have used before. You start by melting unsalted butter over the stove (on low heat) and then stirring in light brown sugar. In a separate bowl, we mixed the dry ingredients (cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and a pinch of salt) and in yet another bowl we whisked the eggs with vanilla.
The dry ingredients get mixed with the butter and brown sugar still over low heat (and at first it seems like it will never get incorporated). The heat actually helps the mixture come together which ends up being extremely thick and chocolaty. The heat is then turned off and the eggs and vanilla are added to the batter. Lastly, 6 ounces of milk chocolate (which is slightly surprising since milk chocolate is rarely used when baking) are stirred in to make the mixture extra chocolaty!
We poured the batter into a 9x13 baking dish and let it bake for about 25-27 minutes. The instructions actually encouraged taking the brownies out when a little bit of the batter still sticks to the toothpick!
After the brownies were completely cooled, we dusted them with confectioners sugar to finish them off and cut them into squares. How did they taste you ask? AMAZING!! They were like a delicious box mix but better and homemade!! Mission accomplished!
Stay tuned for next week :)
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Day 19 - Easy Yellow Cupcakes
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Since last week was such a successful baking session, we decided to keep the theme of cakes/cupcakes. We tried out a recipe from Real Simple - "Easy Yellow Cupcakes." The batter had all of the suspect ingredients [flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, butter, eggs and vanilla] and it had one unusual ingredient - plain, low-fat yogurt. When we saw that this ingredient was in the recipe, it actually drew us to the recipe because usually an ingredient such as yogurt or sour cream makes a really moist cake.
The batter came together easily, no fuss involved, and it baked for 18 minutes. We noticed that when the cupcakes came out of the oven, they were slightly more golden brown then usual - but definitely not burnt. We cooled the cupcakes and decided to use a store bought tub of frosting [actually we had both vanilla and chocolate].
While the cakes cooled, we made an instant vanilla pudding to fill a few of the cupcakes with - as an added, fancy element. We personally aren't huge fans of vanilla pudding, but a friend told us that their favorite cake was a yellow cake with a pudding filling [and if we planned on making it for their birthday, we had better try it out!]
When the cakes were cooled, we filled a few with the pudding [using a piping bag and small round tip] and left a few plain [the batter only made 16 cupcakes]. Then, we filled the piping bags with each of the frostings and frosted each of the cupcakes.
We cut into two cupcakes to taste [one plain and one filled with pudding] and they were delicious! Besides the top of the cupcakes being slightly over-cooked, they were extremely moist and actually the one with the pudding was quite delicious too!
We would definitely make these again, but next time we would be a bit more cognizant of the bake time!
Stay tuned for next week!
Since last week was such a successful baking session, we decided to keep the theme of cakes/cupcakes. We tried out a recipe from Real Simple - "Easy Yellow Cupcakes." The batter had all of the suspect ingredients [flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, butter, eggs and vanilla] and it had one unusual ingredient - plain, low-fat yogurt. When we saw that this ingredient was in the recipe, it actually drew us to the recipe because usually an ingredient such as yogurt or sour cream makes a really moist cake.
The batter came together easily, no fuss involved, and it baked for 18 minutes. We noticed that when the cupcakes came out of the oven, they were slightly more golden brown then usual - but definitely not burnt. We cooled the cupcakes and decided to use a store bought tub of frosting [actually we had both vanilla and chocolate].
While the cakes cooled, we made an instant vanilla pudding to fill a few of the cupcakes with - as an added, fancy element. We personally aren't huge fans of vanilla pudding, but a friend told us that their favorite cake was a yellow cake with a pudding filling [and if we planned on making it for their birthday, we had better try it out!]
When the cakes were cooled, we filled a few with the pudding [using a piping bag and small round tip] and left a few plain [the batter only made 16 cupcakes]. Then, we filled the piping bags with each of the frostings and frosted each of the cupcakes.
We cut into two cupcakes to taste [one plain and one filled with pudding] and they were delicious! Besides the top of the cupcakes being slightly over-cooked, they were extremely moist and actually the one with the pudding was quite delicious too!
Stay tuned for next week!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
New Features!
Hello All!
As you may have noticed, we have recently added a few new features to our blog! They are as follows:
First, we have added a "Recipes" page where we have included a link to all of the recipes we have used (unless they are awful… day 1 ring a bell?!) If we are using a recipe that does not have a link (ie. a family recipe) we will include the full recipe on the this page.
We have also added "labels" to our blog posts to make it easier for you to find a recipe that you are interested in! As we add more and more recipes, this feature will make it easy to sift through the archived posts to narrow down your options for the specific type of recipe you may be looking for.
Lastly, we have included a "Contact Us" page. Feel free to email us with questions and/or comments. We'd love to hear from you!
Hope you are able to utilize and enjoy these enhanced features :)
Le + Jo
As you may have noticed, we have recently added a few new features to our blog! They are as follows:
First, we have added a "Recipes" page where we have included a link to all of the recipes we have used (unless they are awful… day 1 ring a bell?!) If we are using a recipe that does not have a link (ie. a family recipe) we will include the full recipe on the this page.
We have also added "labels" to our blog posts to make it easier for you to find a recipe that you are interested in! As we add more and more recipes, this feature will make it easy to sift through the archived posts to narrow down your options for the specific type of recipe you may be looking for.
Lastly, we have included a "Contact Us" page. Feel free to email us with questions and/or comments. We'd love to hear from you!
Hope you are able to utilize and enjoy these enhanced features :)
Le + Jo
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Day 18 - Moist Chocolate Cake
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Today we wanted to face our fear of cake. We started with a Martha Stewart recipe called "Moist Devils Food Cake." We thought this sounded good mostly because of the "moist" part. We have tried cake before and it was pretty awful. Even when our homemade cakes came out okay, they were never moist and fluffy like a box mix is so we have been sort of avoiding cake at all costs.
We started by sifting the dry ingredients together [cake flour, baking soda and salt]. Then we mixed unsalted butter with sugar and slowly added eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl we sifted cocoa powder and poured in boiling water to create a thick chocolate mixture. We were a little worried about the chocolate mixture because it was soo thick but the recipe calls for milk to be added to it which helped thin it out and make it more of a liquid. The dry ingredients and cocoa mixture is added to the butter mixture slowly to create the cake batter.
While the cakes baked, we made the frosting. We actually used a different frosting then the one that was used for this particular cake. We used a "Fudgy Cream Cheese Frosting" recipe which contained cream cheese, confectioners sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, butter, and milk. It came together quickly and was extremely smooth and silky. We put this in the refrigerator until we were ready to use it.
When the cakes came out of the oven they smelled great and seemed to have a great texture; they bounced back perfectly to the touch. The cakes puffed up quite a bit so they were a dome shape. To make them flat [so they are easier to frost and stack] we just sliced off the top to make it even. We were able to sample the cake from the bits we cut off and it was amazing. It was so moist and delicious - dare we say it… it tasted just like a box mix [or even better!!!]
We frosted the first layer and then topped it with the second cake [they two cakes weren't exactly the same size for some odd reason but we were able to work with it]. We frosted the entire cake and it looked great! Can't wait to have our families try this later tonight!!
Stay tuned for next week :)
Today we wanted to face our fear of cake. We started with a Martha Stewart recipe called "Moist Devils Food Cake." We thought this sounded good mostly because of the "moist" part. We have tried cake before and it was pretty awful. Even when our homemade cakes came out okay, they were never moist and fluffy like a box mix is so we have been sort of avoiding cake at all costs.
We started by sifting the dry ingredients together [cake flour, baking soda and salt]. Then we mixed unsalted butter with sugar and slowly added eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl we sifted cocoa powder and poured in boiling water to create a thick chocolate mixture. We were a little worried about the chocolate mixture because it was soo thick but the recipe calls for milk to be added to it which helped thin it out and make it more of a liquid. The dry ingredients and cocoa mixture is added to the butter mixture slowly to create the cake batter.
The batter was different than any batter we made, it felt really light and fluffy, almost like a mousse. We poured the cake batter into two cake pans and let it bake for about 40 minutes total.
While the cakes baked, we made the frosting. We actually used a different frosting then the one that was used for this particular cake. We used a "Fudgy Cream Cheese Frosting" recipe which contained cream cheese, confectioners sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, butter, and milk. It came together quickly and was extremely smooth and silky. We put this in the refrigerator until we were ready to use it.
When the cakes came out of the oven they smelled great and seemed to have a great texture; they bounced back perfectly to the touch. The cakes puffed up quite a bit so they were a dome shape. To make them flat [so they are easier to frost and stack] we just sliced off the top to make it even. We were able to sample the cake from the bits we cut off and it was amazing. It was so moist and delicious - dare we say it… it tasted just like a box mix [or even better!!!]
We frosted the first layer and then topped it with the second cake [they two cakes weren't exactly the same size for some odd reason but we were able to work with it]. We frosted the entire cake and it looked great! Can't wait to have our families try this later tonight!!
Stay tuned for next week :)
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Day 17 - Vanilla Pound Cake & Strawberry Country Cake
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Today is such a rainy day, perfect for laying in bed to watch a movie, snuggling up with a book, or baking! Today I chose to do a little of each. I decided to bake a Martha Stewart vanilla pound cake [piggy backing off of last week] and a strawberry country cake from Ina Garten.
I started off with the pound cake. There were actually not that many ingredients in this recipe, just butter, flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt. The batter came together quickly and was a smooth, silky consistency. It baked in the loaf pan for "about an hour" as the recipe suggests. Maybe I should have checked it earlier because when it came out after an hour it looked ok, although a little more "well done" along the edges then last week's pound cake. After it cooled for a bit, I flipped it out of the loaf pan and I could feel that it was a bit dense. I poked the top of the cake and instead of springing back, it felt sort of hard. I sprinkled it with confectioners sugar which not only make it look yummy but I figured it couldn't hurt the flavor either.
While the pound cake was over baking in the oven, I started on the batter for the Strawberry Country Cake. The batter was a bit more complicated than the pound cake because it had quite a few more ingredients. It seemed like a white cake recipe with the added flavors of orange and lemon zest. What makes it a strawberry cake is that the cake is topped with fresh whipped cream and strawberries. It sounded a bit like a strawberry short cake which I have always loved since I was little so I think thats what drew me to this recipe.
I was sure to check the cakes often to ensure that they didn't over bake. The cakes came out a few minutes before the timer went off and they looked great. They were golden brown and sprung back nicely as I touched it. Unfortunately I had to wait for the taste test because the cake is topped with fresh whipped cream which only should be made when you are ready to eat the cake. I also figured I should wait until later to put the cake together so I could share it with my family!
So tonight after dinner I was ready to assemble and decorate the cakes. I whipped up some fresh whipped cream and spread it evenly over one of the cakes [which would be the bottom layer]. Then I decorated it with fresh strawberries and topped it with the second cake. Again, I topped the cake with whipped cream and decorated it with strawberries. The cake looked beautiful when it was done!
The cake was delicious. It had a slight citrus flavor (from the orange and lemon zest) which was really nice. It sort of tasted more like a pound cake [ironically!] And who doesn't love fresh whipped cream and strawberries anyway?! The only thing is that the cakes were HUGE! It probably would have sufficed to make one cake and topped it with the whipped cream and strawberries - the two cakes were a little much, but none the less delicious!
Stay tuned for next week :)
Today is such a rainy day, perfect for laying in bed to watch a movie, snuggling up with a book, or baking! Today I chose to do a little of each. I decided to bake a Martha Stewart vanilla pound cake [piggy backing off of last week] and a strawberry country cake from Ina Garten.
I started off with the pound cake. There were actually not that many ingredients in this recipe, just butter, flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt. The batter came together quickly and was a smooth, silky consistency. It baked in the loaf pan for "about an hour" as the recipe suggests. Maybe I should have checked it earlier because when it came out after an hour it looked ok, although a little more "well done" along the edges then last week's pound cake. After it cooled for a bit, I flipped it out of the loaf pan and I could feel that it was a bit dense. I poked the top of the cake and instead of springing back, it felt sort of hard. I sprinkled it with confectioners sugar which not only make it look yummy but I figured it couldn't hurt the flavor either.
I cut an end off the cake and could tell that something wasn't right. I couldn't tell if it was the flavor that was off or just that it was way over baked. I left it on the counter to fully cool and the cake only got worse. I wish I had a scale to put it on because it was literally like a brick! Needless to say, it ended up in the garbage. So disappointing.
So tonight after dinner I was ready to assemble and decorate the cakes. I whipped up some fresh whipped cream and spread it evenly over one of the cakes [which would be the bottom layer]. Then I decorated it with fresh strawberries and topped it with the second cake. Again, I topped the cake with whipped cream and decorated it with strawberries. The cake looked beautiful when it was done!
The cake was delicious. It had a slight citrus flavor (from the orange and lemon zest) which was really nice. It sort of tasted more like a pound cake [ironically!] And who doesn't love fresh whipped cream and strawberries anyway?! The only thing is that the cakes were HUGE! It probably would have sufficed to make one cake and topped it with the whipped cream and strawberries - the two cakes were a little much, but none the less delicious!
Stay tuned for next week :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)