ice cream has become my old stand-by in the kitchen. it has never failed me and being homemade, is always impressive yet simple. for me, ice cream is a classic.
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i’ve had a lot of disappointments in the kitchen these days. the carbomb cupcakes, exploding yeast waffle batter that coated me and the refrigerator door, a lost cause vanilla butter cake… no big disasters, just nothing i can really be proud of, which is (so, so so!) frustrating. i have been thinking about this months shf , expertly picked by fanny at foodbeam, since it was announced, so to pull me out of my sad mood i decided it was time to tackle the cupcake before it was too late.
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i only have one decent picture of this cake because we ate it all. it didn’t stand a chance. i intended to make this into a small cake and a few cupcakes for shf, but the cupcakes were very stubbornly stuck to the pan. i scrapped that idea after trying to salvage the cupcake remnants and just went with the 6 inch round layer cake. i found the recipe for the guinness chocolate cake over at smitten kitchen. the frosting was a irish cream swiss buttercream (also at sk) and the filling a whiskey caramel. the flavors were supposed to mimic a carbomb. the caramel ended up soaking into the layers…which ended up making the cake very moist and ultra decadent. it was the perfect end to a simple meal shared with friends.
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some might say that these are their perfect cookie. well, my friend miss brooke did say that. she loves oatmeal, but not spice and chocolate, but not chips. the rest was fair game. these cookies are made with cocoa, oatmeal, toffee bits and walnuts. they are pleasently chewy, yet crisp on the edges with crunchy little bits throughout. perfect for a lunch bag. i don’t like oatmeal raisin cookies only because i have a (some say unfair) bias toward raisins. i just am not a fan, but i do love oatmeal in my cookies so i thought i would come up with my own version. i brought half of the batch to work and they were gone by noon. i don’t even arrive until 10. i think people just really like cookies.
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i am not much for pancakes. i find that often they fall apart into a soggy mess that is less than appetizing. sean however is a pancake fiend. sometimes he wants to make them for us, but i would rather just have my morning coffee than choke down the syrup-soaked disks. often this is discouraging for him and he usually mopes at the table with his cereal. so, i set out to find a pancake we could agree on, thus uniting us in weekend breakfast contentment. i have seen many recipes for ricotta pancakes and figured they might be something i would like. i mean, cheese in the batter? yes please. the egg whites are whipped and folded into the batter, this step might seem annoying and unnecessary, but trust me it is well worth it. these pancakes are perfectly light, they don’t fall apart when topped with syrup…or the amaretto peaches i made…and most importantly they were a pancake sean and i could agree on.
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i’ve been a little indulgent with my posts lately, so i thought i’d try something simpler and possibly (not really) healthier. i am not the biggest granola fan. all i really want are the nuts, so i usually just stick with that instead. sean however loves his granola. i needed to find a happy medium. so…i decided to go with peanut butter and jelly granola with some peanuts for added crunchiness and goodness. i love pb&j. it is one of my favorite things in the whole world. so ultimately comforting and perfect on toast for breakfast.
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i want to call this mexican hot chocolate pudding, but i don’t know that it is very authentic in any way. the flavors (sans cayenne) are reminiscent of the hot chocolate my spanish teacher in high school used to make for us. the chocolate is darker and the cinnamon more prominent…and well, there’s the cayenne. it adds a really nice heat in the back of the throat. so, so good. last year for sean’s birthday i bought his cake from the baker (whose name i forgot! sorry…) at se7en and sup. it had a chai-chocolate cake base, chocolate mousse, ganache, and somewhere in there quite a bit of heat. i close my eyes and dream of that cake. seriously.
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…making macarons. these chocolate and hazelnut macarons with salted caramel were a bit of a triumph for me. not very pretty and not very dainty, but i have to say that i am pretty proud of my first attempt. i intended to make an espresso ganache, but it didn’t come together for me and i only had milk chocolate, which was not really what i wanted. so, in went the leftover walnut caramel. i have to admit i have never made macarons before and they have been on my to-do list for the entire summer. melly over at one messy kitchen is hosting this months shf event and when i discovered that it would be meringue i was more than a little excited.
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i threw this crisp (or crumble–i’m never sure what the difference is) together last night out of necessity. i literally had some plums on the counter that needed retiring (the necessary part) and some raspberries in the freezer. i also had a palmful of almonds and a half container of amaretti (and this post also inspired me) that needed using. the juice of one orange, the insides of one vanilla bean, a few tablespoons of flour and butter and this crisp was born. it came together so quickly and easily that i had very low expectations. but, it was sweet and tart and crunchy and had a beautifully jewel toned, bubbling syrup. my expectations were wrong, but that made for even more enjoyable results.
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i love peaches. they are my fave of all the stone fruits and are a top contender as my favorite fruit of all time. my love affair with the peach began when i was really young. i am not sure how old i was, but one of my oldest memories is that of picking peaches at a u-pick farm somewhere near san francisco. i remember eating the peaches on the way home in my grandparents truck, sitting in the back seat with my mom. there really is nothing better than a ripe, juicy peach eaten out of hand, especially if the juices run down the length of your arm. well, except maybe these peaches.
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