Baker Off Duty

For the first time in quite a while, I have no cake orders for the entire weekend.  When this happens, things could go one of two ways.  On one hand, I could go wild, baking all sorts of things that aren't on the Much Ado About Cake menu.  On the other, I could shun baking altogether, reveling in the fact that I needn't even turn on the oven.

Today, I'm rocking the latter.  This does not, however, mean that I am forced into a sad state of dessertlessness.  I could eat ice cream.  I could try a new bakery.  I could make Rice Krispies treats.  Mmmm...

What is it about the RKT?  Childhood nostalgia?  Marshmallow perfection?  In my book, the chewy-crispy squares are a wonderful foil for the richness of my usual dessert pursuits.  The fact that a six year old could make them is a total bonus.

According to the official Rice Krispies website, Rice Krispies Treats consist of the following:

3 tablespoons butter or margarine
10 oz marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies

Melt the first two ingredients together, add the third, and mush into a pan. 

Since I was home alone this evening, I decided a half batch would be sufficient.  I opted for the microwave method, but committed the ultimate rookie mistake...

This is what happens when your bowl is too small.

I compensated for my faux pas with a handful of M&Ms.  I consider myself forgiven.

Tomorrow, I plan some legit baking.  I've got a sack full of apples that I picked myself.  I feel a crisp coming on.  Until then, I'll do my best to save a couple of these for the husband so he, too, can...

Keep it sweet. Pin It

When Good Bundts Go Bad

We have our first write-in!  Jennifer in Maryland writes...

Literate Baker -- helpppppp! My family is coming tonight and I made a lemon bundt cake. Trouble is, the damn thing is in two jagged pieces -- I don't think I can even salvage the bottom neatly to place it on top. I thought of turning it into some sort of trifle -- like, lemon cake, cream or custard, and fruit. Do you have any ideas on how to execute such a thing?

Jennifer, I've so been there!  I do love a nice Bundt, but they can be so temperamental.  My solution is typically to piece it together and slather it with a nice glaze.  (You can get really nice coverage if you use a little cream cheese as your base.)  If you feel like you're beyond that, I definitely think you're on to the next best thing.  You can never go wrong with a trifle!  If you don't have a trifle bowl (clear glass with straight sides so you can see the layers), consider any pretty bowl or baking dish.  You could even make individual trifles in martini or margarita glasses.

As for your recipe, the traditional custard and fruit are tradition for a reason--they're so tasty!  If you're pressed for time, the "cook and serve" puddings are quite good, especially if you add a touch of vanilla or almond extract.  For extra fun, you can sprinkle the cake with a liqueur as you layer it.  For a lemon cake, limoncello or Grand Marnier would be lovely.  So would a raspberry liqueur as long as it's clear.  Finish with whipped cream (with a little lemon zest, perhaps?) and some shaved white chocolate or slivered almonds.  

Turning broken lemon cake into trifle?  That's definitely the Literate Baker's idea of lemons to lemonade.  Thanks for writing in!  Please let us know how things turn out for you!

Keep it sweet.

Pin It

The Best Part of Waking Up

I love caffeine as much as the next person, especially in the form of iced coffee or Diet Coke.  I'm also quite fond of waffles, almond croissants, and cheese danish.  I have a new breakfast favorite, though, and I think it's fair to say it makes getting out of bed a much more pleasant endeavor.

It is... the grilled Nutella sandwich.  It goes a little something like this:

Step 1: Smear bread with Nutella.

Step 2: Cook in a skillet with butter.

Step 3: Eat, licking Nutella from fingers and plate as necessary.

Is it baking?  Not technically.  Is it beyond yummy?  You bet.  It's crispy yet oozy, chocolaty and hazelnutty and buttery.  It probably isn't any more fattening than pancakes.  So there.  I wonder if I could get away with having a hot plate in my office?

Keep it sweet. Pin It

Butteriffic, Or, Why I Love Shortbread

Generally, I'm  a chewy-chunky kind of girl.  No, I'm not talking about my personality or my fashion sense.  I'm talking about my taste in cookies.  I adore a chewy texture, and there are few combinations of chocolates, nuts, and fruits that I wouldn't support.  That said, my favorite cookie in the whole wide world might just be shortbread.

Truthfully, shortbread is butter in cookie form.  When made well, a shortbread cookie is at once light and rich, perfectly buttery and just barely sweet. The other cool thing about shortbread is that it is ridiculously easy to make.  Here's my favorite recipe, from my (in my dreams) good friend, Ina Garten:

Shortbread Cookies

3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
• Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3 by 1-inch finger-shaped cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. (Don't trust your microwave timer; time it with your watch.) Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it's completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.
• Drizzle 1/2 of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it. 

Literate Baker notes:  I also add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract because I love it and would use it as perfume in a pinch.  I prefer to roll mine a little thinner, closer to 1/4 inch thick.

You can use any cookie cutter.

I do a chocolate dunk.

Shortbread stays fresh for a while, so it's a great cookie to give as a gift, to ship to a friend, or to use as a party favor.  Just be sure to make extra.  Eating three or four (or five) in one sitting is not unreasonable, given that they are the perfect not-too-sweet way to...


Keep it sweet.

Find more at
Shortbread Cookies Pin It

Best Laid Plans

I recently saw an old Eddie Izzard sketch about the best laid plans of mice and men.  (You can see it here; skip to the 4:00 mark.  While you're at it, you should look up Cake or Death, my single most favorite Eddie bit.)  While neither mouse nor man, I am quite fond of making plans.  Much like mice and men, my plans gang aft agley.  (Really, that's what Robert Burns said; look it up.) 

Anyway, I do have a point.  Or at least a story.  Sort of.  On, Mondays, my best laid plans generally include getting a lot of work done and eat in a much healthier way than I did over the weekend.  Dear readers, I am seriously agley.

I am currently chucking in the dream bar/hello dolly/seven-layer bar pictured above while attempting to wrangle the spring class schedule and my inbox.  I'm sure regret will set in shortly.  At the moment, it's cloyingly sweet gooeyness is making the day just a bit more manageable.  And that's good enough for me.

If you'd like to try your hand at these, here is a classic recipe from Eagle Brand:

• Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped nuts

HEAT oven to 350°F. Spray 13 x 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.
 
COMBINE graham cracker crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with fork.
 
BAKE 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen from sides of pan while still warm; cool on wire rack. Cut into bars or diamonds.   For perfectly cut cookie bars, line entire pan with foil, extending foil over edge of pan. Coat lightly with no-stick cooking spray. After bars have baked and cooled, lift up with edges of foil to remove from pan. Cut into individual bars.
 
VARIATIONS
SUBSTITUTE chocolate chips or nuts with candy coated pieces, dried cranberries, raisins, mini-marshmallows or butterscotch chips.

I don't think these should ever be made without butterscotch chips.  I'm also fond of the chocolate cookie crumbs used in the crust of my current specimen.  Personally, I could do without the coconut.

I suppose the moral of today's story is to go with the flow.  (This is more uplifting than the alternative: Don't kid yourself, just bring the cake scraps to work with you.)  Either way, I'd better get back to work.  Given the sugar high I feel coming on, it should be quite a bit easier to...


Keep it sweet. Pin It

Something Fishy

It is my sincere intention never to allow this blog to become a mere offshoot of the baking I do for my business.  That said, I just made the coolest cake.  Ever.  Well, probably not ever, but close.

I received an email several weeks ago from a guy looking to surprise his wife for her birthday.  The cake he wanted?  A sushi boat.  With sweet sushi in it.  Sweet.  Had I not just seen a sushi boat cake on one of my many tivoed cake shows, I might have been intimidated.  Since I had, I was giddy, I mean, well-prepared.  (See, watching cake tv pays off.)

The boat was red velvet cake, covered in fondant and painted to resemble woodgrain.  For the sushi, I wanted something more palatable than fondant, so I used rice krispy treats for the rice (I know, brilliant).  I dipped that in white chocolate and added white sprinkles.  For the salmon, I made a pinky-orange modeling chocolate.  I did use fondant for the fishy bits inside and the nori.  I also made a giant mess of my work table and myself.

I made a few extra so the husband and I could sample them.  The verdict?  Very tasty, but a little unsettling.  Even though we knew they were sweet, I think our brains were programmed to expect, well, sushi.

I now wish I'd taken pictures of the work in progress.  Next time I suppose.  Here is the finished product.

A success, I'd say.  I love making cakes that don't look like cakes.  Raw fish: the literate baker's newest way to...

Keep it sweet. Pin It

Plum Prints

I had an order for decorated sugar cookies this week.  (Happy 95th Birthday, Helen!)  Anytime I make cutout cookies, I use the No Fail Sugar Cookie recipe from Cake Central. 

6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups unsalted butter
2 cups sugar (white granulated)
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself)
1 tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
2. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. 
3. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.
4. Chill for 1 to 2 hours.
5. Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. 
6. This recipe can make up to 5-dozen 3” cookies.

Literate Baker notes:  I use a full tablespoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of almond extract.  Also, the baking time depends greatly on the size and shape of the cutter used.  Mine take up to 14 minutes to bake.

In addition to cutouts, I use this dough as the base for thumbprint cookies.  Since I had a little bit of dough left over and lots and lots of plum jam in the fridge (see Jam On It), I decided to make a few. 

Given the syrupy nature of my jam, I should have anticipated the ooze factor.  I did not.  For the record, these things stuck to the nothing-sticks-to-it parchment paper.  Seriously.  They were, however, extremely tasty.  Since I only managed to use up about two tablespoons of jam, I'll probably be going back to my usual Nutella/lemon curd/raspberry filling next time.  And continuing to look for things on which to slather plum jam.  Not a bad past time, really, for one always looking to...


Keep it sweet. Pin It