Ginger Snaps
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Ginger Snaps (all spiced up and ready to roll)
You Need:
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
You Do:
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 6:33 pm
Throwdown!
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
Thursday, January 27, 2011
✓ Cleaver
✓ Plastic Gloves
✓ Eight of the biggest, baddest pineapples from Cold Storage
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 9:13 pm
Love Is...
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
.... waking up at 4am in the morning to make pizza for your son's class Bake Sale to be held during lunch-time today.
All proceeds will go to an orphanage of their choice which makes waking up at such an ungodly hour worthwhile. However, I am so going to take my fuzzy head for a nap right now before I keel over from lack of sleep which, may also have been from staying up till 12am the night before to finish up a sleeve of my current crochet project. *blush*
Toodles y'all!
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 6:52 pm
Nigella's Baklava Muffins
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Here's another stab at a Nigella recipe from her How To Be A Domestic Goddess baking book.
I'm still on my Turkish streak. I know, I know... I can hear some of you say, get over your Turkish holiday already! But that's the fun of travelling, you learn about and maybe even fall in love with the country's culture and cuisine, not just the exchange rate and shops.
Anyway.
Yesterday I made some Baklava Muffins as a prelude to the real Baklava I have on my to-do list. I absolutely love this recipe! Dripping in honey (I practically drowned mine in it) and smelling ever so slightly of cinnamon, on account of the cinnamon and walnut filling, it's sticky and gooey - 100% hardcore comfort food. And forget about eating this daintily. You can't. Even the Queen of All Things Proper, Emily Post will get her fingers messy, let alone us mere mortals.
In keeping with the theme, I put out my Turkish teacup and saucer set and brewed myself some Apple Tea, both of which were bought during our little summer sojourn to Turkey this year. I figured the cinnamon in the muffins would go nicely with the apple tea. It did.
A note about these little cups. They are only 3 inches tall (I've got heels higher than that!) and can only hold so much tea each time. There's a reason for it as the Turks make their tea extremely, extremely sweet. I had the priviledge of being served a cup while we were at a silver shop a few years back - okay, I'm not stupid, the guy was trying to make a sale, hence the attention - and boy, did I get a sugar buzz after. Oh, and the tea wasn't a wasted touch, we did eventually walk out with a couple of bracelets and earrings for me.
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 2:52 am
Rosebud Madeleines And Tea
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes, small bites
Friday, September 14, 2007
Yesterday I did a spot of baking.
I made some madeleines from a recipe found in the Nigella baking book Karen gave me for my birthday this year. With a name like "Rosebud Madeleines", how's a girl going to resist? Also, I always welcome a change when it comes to the nibbles accompanying my pots of tea, which comes up to about two daily, more during winter.
Verdict: These little dainty cakes turned out superb. The were dense, buttery and left a pleasant rose aftertaste. The only downside was the amount the recipe yielded. Nigella says I should pop about 48 of those babies out but I only managed a paltry 10. Perhaps it's the size of my molds? Mine's the supersized version while hers are of the midget variety? No matter, this is just a small glitch - I can always double the recipe in future.
Initially, I'd wanted to have the madeleines with my very last ball of blossoming tea but I remembered a bottle of dried rose buds sitting in my tea drawer so I popped a couple of them in the pot instead. Not just any pot, you understand. Being fanatical about my tea, I have pots for different kinds of teas and moods. Today, I chose the transparent one with the glass filter so that I could see the pretty rosebuds floating about while I pour my tea. Something to feed the eyes, while feeding the tummy.
Why go through all that trouble over a cup of tea, you ask? Well, the simple reason is because I like it. It makes me feel special, calm and above all, it relaxes me. Although I do occasionally use prepackaged teabags out of convenience, I prefer the loose leaf ones and get mine from specialty stores in the bigger cities. Like I keep reiterating, a girl's got to make her own fun, especially the stay at home mum kind of a girl. So I get my kicks out of dried leaves when I'm not frolicking with my shadow.....
Here are more photos from yesterday's afternoon tea.
Lekker!
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 3:53 am
H Is For Heavenly
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
Friday, August 24, 2007
As in a slice of Marbled Ricotta Cheesecake Brownie.
Inspired by Precious Moments' photo of the aforementioned, I just had to make one myself. The ingredients ... ricotta cheese, cream cheese, chocolate, butter, eggs, sugar... it reads like a who's who list of artery clogging but delish foods.
This is a bona fide all round cake. The kind you reach for when you've had a very bad "I-want-to-rip-someone-from-limb-to-limb" sort of day, or when you're feeling brighter than a lit Christmas tree. This is also the kind of cake which will hold its own at elegant dinner parties (with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream) or at intimate tea for twos. Personally, the best way of eating this (not that I have but would like to try) is by sticking all of five fingers into the middle, scooping a bit up and then licking each digit very slowly to savour the sweet sticky mess. You see, at some point, the ricotta and chocolate brownie layer melds together to form a moist, fudgey center. Lekker!
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 4:24 am
Birthday Cupcakes
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
A bit of backtracking here.
In mid July, I offered to cater for my parents-in-law's joint birthday celebration. With Hubs as my head waiter and me behind the stove, we ran a three course full service dinner for fourteen guests. Everyone enjoyed it and said I should consider setting up shop. I smiled and waved off the notion graciously. After, these were the in-laws' nearest and dearest friends. What else would they say? I know I'm good but not that good. So I took their well-meaning, if not over zealous compliments with a kilo of salt. I know where I stand.
A month prior to the party, I was going over the menu with mother-in-law. After finalising the dinner, we broached the subject of birthday cakes. I told her cupcakes were rather fashionable at the moment and it has all but taken over the regular cake, would she love to have some this year? Something a little different...
Yes, she would.
I came up with two types of cupcakes and with the mature guests in mind, delibrately kept the frosting simple and elegant. I did try to inject a bit of the summer spirit too, with the ingredients and flower cum butterfly theme.
For the flower cupcakes, I placed a couple of fresh raspberries in the paper cups before pouring the batter inside. For the topping, I used a white chocolate frosting. When you take a bite, the rich, cloying chocolate is off set by the tart raspberries and mixed together with the mild vanilla flavoured cake. Quite the oral treat. With cut stawberries for flowers and mint for leaves, they were easy on the eyes too.
The butterfly cupcakes were more straightforward. I baked my favourite chocolate cupcake recipe, sliced off the top for wings, arranged them using the same frosting and sent it flying with a good dousing of icing sugar.
Here is the recipe for the frosting. It is by Jane Homby and is taken from the June 2007 issue of GoodFood.
White Chocolate Frosting
You need:
100g white chocolate
140g unsalted butter
140g icing sugar
You do:
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 4:34 am
Practice, Practice, Practice
Labels: home life, she bakes, she cooks
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Like an an athlete training for his or her sport, I was busy all day in the kitchen practicing on the recipes I hope to wow my parents-in-law's guests on Sunday.
As they are born a week apart from each other (how romantic is that?), a joint birthday celebration will be held this weekend at their house and I have offered to cater the entire affair as a personal present to them. It's only a party of 12 adults. Unlike their previous celebrations with as many as 60-70 guests, a dozen is a very manageable figure, nothing to worry about. Unless of course, one of my dishes refuses to cooperate. But I have Plan B, I always do.
H, what is the number for the Chinese take-out again?
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 2:56 pm
Tapioca Kueh
Labels: 100% sugar, asian food, she bakes
Monday, July 02, 2007
One of the staples in Asian cooking is the tapioca root. It's not very pretty to look at, humble even but it's more useful than you think it is. You know the old saying, never judge a book by its cover? This would be it.
Tapioca, also known as Yucca, can be ground into flour for cakes or as a thickening agent, deep fried into chips (one of my favourite snacks), formed into sago pearls for desserts and even as a binder for pharmaceutical products. Or it could be grated to make this:
This was my second attempt. The first try was one soggy mess because Ms Smarty Pants here wanted to take the easy way out by buying ready grated tapioca. All would be well if the grated tapioca was not frozen. After thawing, it wasn't semi-dry and fluffy but just a lump of mud-like something. Still, I did not heed the warning bell going off in my head and proceeded with the recipe. Result: The taste was there, everything else wasn't.
So this time, I bought the tubers in its original form, still frozen but otherwise untouched. Upon thawing, I started removing the skin followed by grating. All bloody 1kg of it. As in most Peranakan or Malay cooking, I thought my arm was going to fall off from exhaustion. And to ensure success, I drained and squeezed out the excess liquid from the grated tapioca. I was most determined not to fail. Not after all that labour.
I was rewarded with this about an hour or so later:
Everything looking the way it should be. Lekker!
The only problem now is, even though baked in a relatively small 8" tin, it's still way too much for one person to finish. Any takers out there?
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 1:22 pm
Orange Chiffon Cake
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Earlier in the month, the week when it snowed, I was on a baking frenzy. The warmth and baking aroma wafting from the oven made the house extra cosy. The above photo is the orange chiffon cake from the bake fest. I made a banana cake and 3 different types of cookies as well but the photos were so bad due to the poor lighting, I don't have the heart to put them up. So, it's just the chiffon for now.
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 2:10 pm
Is There Anything You Didn't Put Inside?
Labels: 100% sugar, home life, she bakes
Monday, February 05, 2007
That was the question my husband asked last night when I showed him what our son and I did while he was away at some Carnival event.
It's Carnival season now (the period just before Lent followed by Easter) and every weekend right up to Carnival Week, there's always some 'thing' going on. These are social gatherings which place in halls where alcohol flows freely (figuratively speaking since one still has to pay) amidst a repetoire of song, dance and stand-up comics.
I dislike it.
More specifically, I dislike the crowds (mostly in fancy dress), I dislike the noise and I especially dislike the traditional songs (oompah oompah music I call it) played during the festivities. During the season, I normally hole myself at home and wait for the madness to pass over. This is one of the cultural things I 'don't get'.
Yesterday, my husband went to one such 'thing'. This time it was a men-only affair which is a kind of tradition here. Back in the day, when the town was a mainly farming commmunity, this was the one day that Farmer Joe could get away from Farmer Jane and their seven pride and joys. It starts from 9am in the morning and lasts right up to the evening.
So while my husband and the entire male population of the family clan were bonding over beer and a revue of shows, I was home with our boy baking away. He wanted chocolate chip cookies while I wanted more of the oatmeal stuff. Since we had time and ingredients on our hands, I thought, what the heck, let's do both.
So back to my husband's question that evening:
"Is there anything you didn't put inside?"
He was alluding to the stuff I piled on in the oatmeal cookies. The recipe called for only raisins but I was feeling experimental so I chucked in whatever was in the cellar. This must be the most hodge podge oatmeal cookie ever. I mixed in raisins, white sultanas, blackcurrents, cherries and cranberries. Sort of like the culinary version of "How many clowns can one stuff into a Volkswagon Beetle?".
Here's what it looks like:
I must say I rather like it. It's a mish mash of tastes with the tartness of cranberries being offset by the sweetness of the other fruit. In contrast, the chocolate chip cookies were just that, plain chunks of milk chocolate in a crispy base with a handful of chopped pecan nuts. For a joke, I made one that was almost the size of a CD. When my son saw it, he went all goggle eyed and asked the usual:
Ah, the innocence of youth...
Oh, and I also need a new spatula now. Kindly observe Exhibit A:
Arrrrgh!!!!
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 7:03 am
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies From Heaven
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
Friday, January 19, 2007
I kid you not. That's what the recipe is called - Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies From Heaven.
Having a soft spot for catchy names and after running through the recipe to see if it was practical, I decided to give it a try.
Verdict: The taste is from heaven but with the recipe requiring 1 cup of butter and peanut butter each, the calories are most definitely from hell. It's one of those evil melting thingies, deceptively crumbly that feels like nothing in your mouth. You aren't quite sure if you just had a cookie or not, so you reach for another. And another. Before you realise the damage you're doing to your hips, you've downed 6 pieces.
This recipe, in my case, yielded 106 cookies (dough size of about 1.5 tsp each). So I did what I always do: Give most of them away, just keeping a little for ourselves. I packed them up in bundles:
Click here for your bit of heaven.
Note: One cup of peanut butter might seem excessive in theory but once baked, it doesn't overpower the general taste of the cookie. Instead, it only gives a hint of peanut and leaves a slight cloying aftertaste.
As for the type of peanut butter, I used the creamy ones, hence, cookies with a smoother texture.
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 3:12 am
Crumbs!
Labels: 100% sugar, just for fun, she bakes
Monday, January 15, 2007
Taking silly photos.
Just another thing to do with an oatmeal raisin cookie.
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 2:15 pm
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
For some inexplicable reason, I woke up at 7.30am on Sunday and couldn't get back to sleep. So I lazed around in bed, watching my husband sleep and listening to his gentle snores. By 8am, I got fidgety and decided to start the day. My son heard me fussing in the bathroom going about my toilette and awoke too. By 8.45am, I was showered, dressed and made up.
I plonk my still pyjama-ed son (it was afterall a Sunday) in front of the television with some chocolate milk, then contemplated what to do next. I finally decided I would make some cookies since I haven't done any in a while. I fished out my oatmeal raisin cookie recipe and trooped down to the cellar to collect my baking equipment and ingredients.
Within 30 minutes, I had the first batch in the oven. Lovely aromas of butter and spices wafted through the kitchen and into the living room. Perfect way to start a lazy Sunday.
Here's the recipe:
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
You need:
1 1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cup oats
1 cup rasins
How to:
1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C.
2. Beat butter and sugars until fluffy.
3. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. Add flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Mix well.
5. Stir in oats and raisins.
6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets and bake for 10 - 11 minutes.
7. Remove and cool on wire racks.
Note:
- I love raisins so I added 3/4 cup extra of the wonderful buggers.
- I used a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon to get smaller cookies.
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 1:40 pm
Lemon Meringue Tarts
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
Thursday, January 11, 2007
I made these for a New Year's Eve dinner we hosted. The starter and meal course itself were rather heavy so I wanted something refreshing for dessert. Hence, I went for the Lemon Meringue recipe. However, I made dainty tarts instead of the big pie because they are more elegant and easier on the eye. I also switched the crust recipe to one specifically meant for fruit tarts. Result: Lekker!
That evening, I placed one single tart on a square dessert plate and sprinkled lemon zest over it. The zest was to make it look prettier and to enhance the citrus scent. Asthetics and aromatherapy rolled into one plate.
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 4:28 am
Lemon Meringue Pie
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Here's Lemon Meringue, the doll of my sister's childhood (I had a Strawberry Shortcake):
And here's Lemon Meringue, the pie of last Friday's pottering about the kitchen:
I went to bed on Thursday night thinking how nice it would be to have a slice of lemon meringue pie. I woke up the next morning still hankering for it and decided this was serious, something had to be done. One cannot be craving like this. I will have my cake, in this case, pie and eat it too.
So I trawled through a couple of recipes and found this at Allrecipes. This baby took home the first prize at a county fair in Ohio. I figured if it was good enough for the judges in Bradford, it's good enough for me. A quick check confirmed I had all the ingredients at hand. I could hardly believe my luck and took it as a good omen. Surely I was meant to have this! I made up the pastry dough and whilst waiting for it to rest in the fridge, went ahead with the rest of the prep work. I put on a cd by Shakira and off I went, squeezing and grating the lemons for juice and zest.
Two hours later, I was rewarded with this:
Fresh out of the oven, it had a lovely golden brown crust. After the requisite cooling and chilling, I made a cup of tea and cut myself a slice of pice. I braced myself for The Moment. And what a moment it was! The lemon aroma hits you first followed by the tangy, citrusy filling which leaves a fresh aftertaste. No wonder it won first prize.
Verdict: Lekker with a capital 'L'.
Oh, and I learnt something new about my husband too: I found out he was quite mad for Lemon Meringue pie and he raved about this particular filling. This, coming from a man who's idea of dessert is a cigar after his meal. Needless to say, I was very chuffed. Then I had a light bulb moment: Maybe it's not the case of my husband hating cakes and desserts in general but it's because I haven't been making the right ones.
*******************************
Edited to add: The next time I do this, I'm going to try piping the meringue or at least make the peaks higher, just for asthetics. And also for some reason, the meringue lost its golden crust the next day. Maybe it should spend more time in the oven during the initial baking?
Ahh... life's important questions...
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 12:36 pm
C is for Cookie
Labels: 100% sugar, she bakes
Thursday, November 30, 2006
This year, I've decided that everyone will be getting hampers of baked goodies from me. Firstly, I'm tired of trudging around in cold, winter conditions, going from store to store, searching for the perfect gift. The family on my in-law side is pretty big so that's a lot of stores to cover. Just buying gifts for the kids alone will kill you. Also, I do not do well in crowds. They make me grumpy and I lose all charity and generosity. By then, I Just Want To Go Home. Not good when going Christmas shopping.
The other reason for this is to enable me to scratch my baking itch. My two men at home do not really enjoy cakes and cookies, well, only a very select few. So this festive season is the perfect opportunity to bake myself silly.
I've been compiling a list of new cookie recipes to try out. Today I tried a basic butter cookie one from Allrecipes. Click here for full recipe.
The cookies turned out better than expected. It had just the right balance of butter and sugar. Texture wise, it was light and slightly crispy. I think this makes a good base for frosting and decorating. I didn't do any today because this was strictly a taste test. I can't wait to try out the different ideas I have for decorating though.
One down, a couple more to go.
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 3:05 pm
Cranberry Scones
Enjoy! Labels: she bakes
Monday, November 13, 2006
I love scones, light buttery ones, eaten with more butter or jam, especially marmalade. I first came across them when I was a child reading Enid Blyton's books. Somehow, there were always either scones or macaroons for tea in her stories. As a 7 year old, I hadn't an inkling what they tasted like but I only imagined they were something magical. Food fit for pixies or fairies and kids living in a far-off country called England.
Anyway, I realised I haven't done a photo tutorial in a while so this is a good topic as any for one. Scones are easy to do although they look like you've slaved in the kitchen for hours. It's really quite chic when offered to your guests with a cup of tea or coffee. Arranged nicely over a pretty plate and *snaps finger* instant Delia Smith, just like that.
This recipe is taken from allrecipes. I've adjusted it by adding a little more butter and sugar. Butter to give it a fuller taste and sugar to offset the tartness of the cranberries (the original recipe used currants). I also replaced whole milk with skim milk and paraphrased most of the instructions so that it seems you're in the kitchen with me.
Cranberry Scones
Here's what you need:
1 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
100 g butter (prefably unsalted)
100 g white sugar
2/3 cups skim milk
1/2 cup cranberries
1 egg yolk, beaten
Before starting, make sure you've:
1. Preheated the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Line your baking tray with greaseproof or baking paper.
And moving right along.....
1. Sift flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl.
2. Rub butter and sugar into the flour mixture to form a fine crumble. This is a very tactile experience, enjoy it. Feel the ingredients going through your fingers. Lovely!
3. Now with that done, make a well in the center. Add in milk and cranberries. In this instance, I've thrown in some blueberries and cherries too. You may of course add whatever rocks your boat.
4. Mix together using a wooden spoon, taking care not to over do it. As soon as it forms a dough, you're good. The original recipe says to use your hands to knead but I don't as the dough is super sticky. Don't worry about the stickiness though, you haven't done anything wrong, it's supposed to be like that. If you have the urge to add more flour for easier handling - kill it.
5. Whatever inclinations you might have had for wanting to add extra flour in step 4, do it now on the surface and rolling pin. Be very generous. Then, roll dough out to thickness of 3/4". Using a 2.5" round cookie cutter, stamp out rounds and transfer to lined tray. I'm using a heart shaped one today, just for fun.
6. Gently brush tops with beaten egg yolk. Now go away and make yourself a drink while you let it stand for 15 minutes.
7. Pop it into the oven and bake till they've risen and turned a beautiful golden brown. This should take 12-15 minutes. Any longer, you may have cremated them. Remove and cool on racks.
8. Enjoy whilst warm with butter or jam. Or both. Alternatively, you can do what my friend Karen does: slather it with double whipped cream.
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 11:25 am
