bake 52: cinnamon rolls

Cinnamon.  Sugar.  Butter.  Cream cheese.  Enough said.

I'm STILL on vacation.  These rolls were really yummy.  I ended up doing the dough and forming the rolls, and then sticking them in the fridge overnight and baking them in the morning.  They were great.  I'm thinking it would be such an easy breakfast for Saturday or Sunday mornings (if you have church a little later).  I actually appreciated that it only made 12 rolls.  And just the right amount of frosting.  Nice.

Next week should be my last vacation post.

Check out Valerie's blog for the full recipe.

Bake 52: Creme Brulee

I LOVE Creme Brulee.  When I saw that Jen had picked this as her recipe, I was so excited.

I have made creme brulee many times, but I've never made it with a vanilla bean, or with the burned sugar topping.  I know.  Criminal.  So, first time.  You're here to witness...

Combine 1/2 the cream, sugar, vanilla bean (with seeds), and salt in a saucepan.  Heat to dissolve the sugar.  Then remove from heat, cover, and let steep, (sit for 15 minutes).  Then add the rest of the cream.

Here come the eggs.  Ten.  10.  So many.  So worth it.  We use just the yolks.  There's my handy, albiet slightly broken, egg separator.  Pretty fun, eh?

Ten.  10 yolks.  There they are.

Slowly whisking the cream into the yolks.

Straining the custard.  (I had never done this in my previous Creme Brulee makings.  Smart.  Good thing to do... otherwise, there are times that you get small bits of cooked egg? while eating the Creme Brulee.  I would recommend this step.)

Boil some water.

Pour the custard into the ramekins, which are sitting on top of a kitchen towel, in a 9x13" pan.  The boiling water is then poured into the pan, around the ramekins.  The water helps to cook the custard evenly.

Cook until just set.  And allow to cool, then cover and refrigerate until cold.

Turbinado sugar (or Sugar in the Raw).

The top of the Creme Brulee has to be blotted slightly to be sure that it's completely dry.  Then the sugar is sprinkled lightly on top.

Here comes the torch.  Caramelize the sugar.

Isn't that cool?  I mean, hot?  It was so fun.  I felt so chef-like.

There it is.

The book said, "A perfect creme brulee should be decadently rich and topped with a brittle, paper-thin sheet of burnt sugar."

So check out that paper-thin sheet of burnt sugar.  It worked.  And man was it grand!

If you've never made creme brulee, do it.  Give it a try.  It's not hard.  SO worth it.  Go to Jen's blog for the full recipe.  Mmmm.

Bake 52: Light New York Cheesecake

Cheesecake.  Light Cheesecake.  Nothing wrong with that.  Well, except maybe that it still has calories, albeit less.

The tip for the crust:  use a measuring cup to help press it down, before par-baking.

This was another fun recipe.  I learned something new.  The recipe called for low-fat yogurt cheese.  I had never heard of yogurt cheese before.  Thank goodness for the side-note in the book of how to make your own.  It explained that 2 cups of low-fat yogurt could be placed in a fine-mesh strainer, lined with cheesecloth (I used multiple paper towels), and left to sit in the fridge for 10 hours.  The liquid drains, and your left with yogurt cheese.  Having never tried this before, I was a little nervous.  If it didn't work, what other options would I have?  Luckily it worked like a charm.  And luckily I had read previously about the 10 hours of needed drain time.  Here's what the yogurt looked like after the draining time...  kind-a like softened cream cheese.

Besides the yogurt cheese, there were two-packages of light cream cheese, and cottage cheese.  The whole cheesecake was combined in a food processor, until it was all smooth and well combined.  I've never made a cheesecake in that way.  Slick.

Then of course baked for over an hour, and allowed to cool for a couple of hours, and then put in the fridge to cool for 3 hours... so not really a dessert that can be made quickly, or in only 2 hours before a dinner party.

Overall I liked the cheesecake.  I think though, that if I'm going to have cheesecake, I would prefer the "real" thing.  I mean, if I was to skimp on dessert, I'll go for an orange or grapes or something.  If I'm having dessert, I'll take the full fat.  I wish it had been a little firmer, which could have been my mistake.  Maybe I should have cooked it a tad longer?  So, that being said, I doubt that I'll make this one again, but, I really enjoyed the process.  Thanks Talesha for picking this recipe.  Head over to her blog for the full recipe.

bake 52: week 3... boston cream cupcakes

Amanda picked this week's recipe, (full recipe there).  When I saw what it was, I knew it would be a lot of work, a bit time consuming, but I was optimistic.  I really hoped that it would taste as good as the great picture from the cookbook.

It was a bit of work coupled with time... make the pastry cream, and let it chill in the fridge for 2 hours.  Then make the cupcakes... butter cut into pieces and softened, eggs at room temperature, beating the 12 tablespoons of butter piece by piece into the dry ingredients, creating moist crumbs.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, until combined, then add the milk, also at room temperature, and vanilla.  There were time notations on a lot of the beating instructions, which at first glance seemed a little excessive, but in reality, I think it was helpful.  Obviously it's easy to over-mix cupcakes, (and muffins), and end-up with a very peaked product, so I liked the specific instructions, with times.

Love that the cookbook said to use a greased 1/3-cup measure, to fill each muffin tin equally.  We did the same thing last week with the bran muffins.  It helped.  It made the cupcakes, and muffins, turn out a lot more even, as in same size, even.  Nice tip.  Thanks.

After the cupcakes are completely cooled, the tops are cut, hollowing out the center of the cupcake (in a cone shape).  Then the pointed end of the cone is cut, leaving just the top, so that it can be replaced, after the cream is spooned into the created hole.  (Funny how it said to cut off *and discard* the pointed end of the cone-shaped piece.  As if you'd *discard* the yummy cupcake, the center of the cupcake no less.  I of course saved those pieces, and Silas and I did a little quality control.  Had to be done.)

Then there's the chocolate glaze that goes on top of the whole cupcake, and allowed to drip down the edges.  Amazing.  Yet still, before you can try them, they go back into the fridge for 10 minutes for the glaze to set.  Time consuming?  Yes.  Worth it?  Every minute!

I would make these again.  You know, for something special... a friend's birthday lunch, etc.  (Can't think of any other reason or time that these might be fully appreciated, with all the time that's required.) But how fun to have individual Boston Cream Cupcakes for dessert.

 I did also appreciate that the recipe only made 12 cupcakes.  I was originally worried about having all these cupcakes hanging around, wanting to be eaten, and maybe eventually going bad?  No worries.  Twelve.  Easily disposed of.