trois.

joyeux anniversaire. happy birthday. Yesterday was my eighteenth birthday, I am officially old now! Any special occasion calls for a wonderful cake, but none more so than a birthday. Since I am usually the one to bake in the family, I decided that there was no shame in making my own cake. Actually, it was quite nice. I picked out exactly what I wanted, my little present to myself.

I decided on a frangipane raspberry cake from a cookbook my sister gave to me, "tea with bea". The cake itself is a moist vanilla/almond cake that uses almond paste. Almond paste, similar to marzipan is one of my favorite things! I was immediately drawn to this recipe when I saw that ingredient. The cake is layered between raspberry jam and topped with scrumpcious vanilla flavored Italian Buttercream.

The cake as a whole takes a bit of time ( I made mine the night before), but isn't extremely difficult. The almond cake is straightforward; mix bake, yum. The buttercream is the tricky part. Temperature is absolutely key in any kind of buttercream. You make a meringue which you then add to the butter, but if it isn't properly cooled, the entire mixture will melt..not ideal. If you take your time and really watch the temperature (using a candy thermometer) it should turn out parfait!


 Shown below is the Italian buttercream being mixed up. YUM!

 

 Up above, I show the steps of frosting the cake. I refrigerated the cake after the first later so it would have time to set. Then, I was able to do the fun and pretty decorating.

My cake even had it's own shelf in the fridge! 

I had a wonderful birthday spent with friends and family. The perfect way to end the day? Cake, of course! I was hoping that this cake would be as good as I had anticipated. And I have to say, it was! The almond cake was moist and dense. The tart jam and light buttercream tied everything together for pretty darn good birthday cake. I would say this baking adventure was a success! 

-ali

Deux.

It is quite difficile for me to think of anything that beats the crunch and taste of an Oreo straight from the blue re-sealable package. As much as I love my gourmet, lavender infused macaroons and freshly baked scones, an Oreo always hits the spot for me. So why you might ask, have I never dared to make homemade Oreos? I am now asking myself the same question. If I would have known how incredible these little things would be, I would have tried these years ago.

The recipe is a two-parter..the heavenly, chocolaty dough being part 1 and the famous "Oreo Cream" as part 2. Both steps are straight forward and not too time consuming.

Once the dough is made, it get's rolled up in "press and seal" and refrigerated for a few hours. After that, cut, bake, and voila! 

The frosting is super easy to whip up and you just dollop it on one cookie and sandwich another on top. Easy Peasy. The cookies are crisp and rich, the perfect balance. They were a big hit with my friends and family. I will definitely be making these again! 

mmmm mmm mmm

Here is the recipe for these delicious treats! Enjoy! 

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

vanilla cream filling-
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
pinch of salt

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until well combined.  Whisk in vanilla and chocolate chips.  Add the egg and whisk until thoroughly incorporated.
2. In another medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda until well mixed.  Using a wooden spoon, stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture.  The dough will have the consistency of Play-Doh.  Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 1 hour to firm up.
3. Transfer the dough in a 15-inch square sheet of parchment or waxed paper.  Using your hands, shape the dough into a rough log about 10 inches long and 2 1/2 inches in diameter.  Place the log at the edge of the sheet of parchment paper, and roll the parchment around the log.  With the log fully encased in parchment, roll it into a smoother log, keeping it at 2 1/2 inches in diameter.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until firm.  The log may settle and sink a bit in the fridge, so reroll it every 30 minutes or so.  (At this point the dough can be well wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month.)
4. Preheat the oven to 325° and butter or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  
5. Cut the dough log into 1/4 inch thick slices.  Place the slices 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cookies are firm to the touch.  Check them frequently after 16-17 minutes by poking them in the middle.  Let cool on the baking sheet until barely warm or right at room temperature. 
7. While the cookies are cooling, make the filling by beating the butter on low speed for 30 seconds in the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add the vanilla and confectioners' sugar and beat until smooth.  Add milk and salt and again beat until smooth.
8. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of the filling onto the bottom of one cookie.  Top with a second cookie, bottom-side down, then press the cookies together to spread the filling toward the edges.  Repeat until all of the cookies are filled.

Au Revoir,

-Ali 

une.

We thought that classic Parisian Lemon Madeline cookies would be the parfait way to begin our blogging adventures. We both loved the idea of using my newly inherited, authentic Laudree cookbook and the lemon cookie recipe practically jumped off the page. After glancing over the ingredient list and seeing that we needed two lemons, we simply ventured out to my backyard where Lauren had her first encounter with a lemon tree. Hailing from Seattle, Washington this blonde had never experienced the joy of lemon picking...a thorn-pricked hand and half a shrub later, she realized this probably wasn't the thing for her. That behind us, we continued with the task at hand.

The recipe was fairly easy and we finished the dough in what seemed like five minutes. The next thing on our list: the taste test. The cookie dough passed with flying colors. The batter was out of this world and we practically had to pry the spoons out of each others hands so we would have enough left to make the actual cookies. The only downside to this entire process was the refrigerating time. The two of us couldn't wait to get our hands on a warm madeline pulled right off the tray, but unfortunately the dough had to chill for twelve hours. After patiently waiting until the morning, our taste buds were ready for what was to come. We popped the cookies into the oven and ten minutes later: BAM! Heaven. These cookies were splendidly delicious and tasted fabulous dunked into a fresh café au lait. 

We can't wait to share more of our recipes and food adventures with you. More to come soon! 

Au revior,

Ali