Cream Puffs!

Pate a choux is the dough used for cream puffs. When it is baked, steam rises and creates hollow spaces inside. (Do not open the oven while baking!) This recipe is more complicated, but doable. Special equipment needed are various sizes of piping tips with their bags and couplers. As a substitute, you can use a ziploc bag and cut off one corner to the desired size. But I wouldn't use that method to pipe the dough since its pretty thick. I would also recommend keeping your kitchen well ventilated while baking these. Use a fan or open your windows. The steam from the dough filled my apartment and made me a little disoriented.

Next time I will pipe the dough out more carefully to get a more uniform shape. (The first batch didn't turn out well.) And also bake the cream puffs a little longer. They came out soft, which can be desirable. But makes them less sturdy for the filling, (A few exploded).

Fillings: You can use whatever you like to fill your puffs. Crab salad, whipped cream, chocolate pudding, etc. If you want to fill your puff with something savory however, make sure you use the savory recipe version for the dough. A finishing touch, chocolate piped or drizzled in thin lines. Very yummy!

Red Velvet and Baked Alaska

Red Velvet
My first cake made from scratch. (To merit the purchase of a cake stand.:D) I love the striking red color of the cake. Though mixing the batter made me a bit queasy. If you like cream cheese frosting, you'll like this cake. Red velvet by itself has a subtle flavor. But adding walnuts, which this recipe called for, or fresh fruit can add more appeal.


Baked Alaska
A frozen dessert that is covered with meringue before serving, and baked or torched to brown the coating and slightly melt the inside. Though the base is baked beforehand, it is stored in the freezer with the rest. My dad used to make this to impress my mom. For our second anniversary, I surprised my husband with it. For the frozen part, I used strawberry ice cream and sorbet, (Brian's favorite fruit). To simplify the recipe, which originally had a poppyseed cake bottom, I used brownie mix, which I think improved the flavor as well. This is not hard to make, but it takes plenty of preparation time. The ice cream needs time to soften and refreeze in the desired mold. The time for this increases for each layer you want to add. In retrospect, I should have made, smaller, individual servings for just the two of us.

Past Adventures

It was over two years ago that I took my first solo steps into baking. Here are some of the sweets that I started out with.

Madeleines
One of the first recipes I tried. They are simple to make, but generally a crowd pleaser. The shell shape makes these cookies extra special, and if you like sweet, buttery cookies with a hint of lemon, this is for you. Special equipment needed is just the madeleine pans and a zester/fine grater. I would suggest investing in the silicone pans, especially if you're making several batches. They release the cookies easier and allow you to start the next batch sooner. Also, I would shop around and compare the shapes of the madeleine molds in different pans. Do this until you find the one just for you. I started out with two different pans and realized, one turned out much nicer looking cookies. I bought a duplicate of the nice pan and gave the other away.

Well, I hope this post was helpful. And one last tip: if you make these cookies, be sure to make plenty, they go fast!

Why Bake?

There is something about baking that has always entranced me. The ability to produce something delicious from simple, (or not so simple) ingredients and share it with the people you love. I remember watching my Dad when I was a little girl. He would add and mix different powders and liquids and poof! Warm peanut butter cookies would come magically out of the oven. I wanted to do this too, and I observed with a hungry curiosity. How did his cinnamon rolls turn out so gooey? Or how did he get the pineapple at the top of his pineapple upside-down cake? Back then, baking was a source of enticing mystery to me.

Now, several years later, I see baking as more of a science than a mystery. But also admit that my knowledge, or ability to do so, is mysteriously lacking. Needless to say, my close study of my dad as a child, was not close enough...and mostly forgotten. But, as an adult, I have revived my interest in baking and am resolved to get a good education in it. I want to struggle with it's techniques and share my triumphs with those I love. My goal, in the end? To produce something...magical!