29 Jan
Orange Berry Muffins
Posted by Michelle as Muffins | 35 Comments
I had the honor of choosing this week’s Dorie recipe, and I thought after a few weeks of decadent desserts we could use something a little lighter. These Orange Berry Muffins were just perfect! I have to say that as much as I love my KA mixer, I definitely don’t mind when a recipe comes along that’s simple and only requires a couple of mixing bowls. These muffins were quick and easy to throw together and have a perfectly light taste to them, which is a welcome change from my standard banana muffins, which are fairly heavy and sweet enough for dessert (although, they certainly have their place)! The orange flavor is nice and light and a perfect complement to the blueberries. These are going to be great for morning snacks, and it goes without saying that this was yet another Dorie recipe that hit the spot.
I believe that this recipe would adapt well to other fruit combinations. The first one that comes to mind is lemon/raspberry. I am not a huge fan of lemon, but I think that these flavors would complement each other very well in these muffins.
Our group of Dorie fanatics keeps growing! This week Nikki of Crazy Delicious and Ashley of eat me, delicious have joined us. Welcome girls! I have created a small blogroll on my right sidebar with everyone’s blog links… check out the muffins made by the rest of the gang!
Check back next Tuesday to see the Black and White Cake.
Last week: Perfection Pound Cake
27 Jan
Lemon Meringue Pie
Posted by Michelle as Cream, Custard and Nut Pies | 78 Comments
This month’s Daring Bakers challenge was the classic Lemon Meringue Pie, chosen by Jen at The Canadian Baker. As beloved a dessert as it is, I am not a fan of lemon unless it is squeezed into my water. I was contemplating foregoing this month, but then my sister told me that she would be stopping by for a visit, and she loves a good lemon meringue pie. Finally, a reason to make the pie!
I have never made a lemon meringue (or any type of meringue) pie before, so I had no preconceived notions about what to expect. I had, however, been hearing some rumblings of problems with this pie from other Daring Bakers who had made it early in the month. Having no experience with lemon meringue pie, I was becoming a little apprehensive. However, I forged ahead and went through with the recipe as it was written. I am happy to report that I had no problems with the pie. Aside from the crust shrinking on one side (“There was shrinkage!” – for all of you Seinfeld fans), the lemon curd came together perfectly and the meringue was beautiful. My sister and her friends all loved the pie and said it was wonderful.
To see how the rest of the Daring Bakers fared with the pie, check out the Blogroll.
I actually think this was the best job I’ve done at preparing pie crust (I can usually never get it that smooth!) and I wanted to document it, so here’s a little tooting of my own horn:
My sister, Lauren and her (our) friend, Alanna, enjoying their pie (I told you girls you would make the blog!):
24 Jan
An OREO® Knockoff
Posted by Michelle as Cookies | 21 Comments
I am admittedly not really wowed so much by chocolate cookies. I’m not sure why, as I love chocolate, but an actual chocolate cookie usually doesn’t do much for me. Give me an ooey gooey chocolate chip cookie any day. However, when I saw this cookie on Shawnda’s blog, I was reeled in. Yes, she had an awesome picture, but that wasn’t it. It was four little letters hidden in her description: O-R-E-O. I am a sucker for those little two-toned sandwich cookies… and my favorite cheesecake is an OREO® cheesecake. When Shawnda claimed that these tasted just like that little cookie, the deal was sealed. The post was starred, white chocolate was added to my grocery list, and off I went!
And let me tell you – these taste exactly like an OREO® cookie – a very moist, chewy OREO®. Perhaps the best part of this recipe is that there are no eggs, so go ahead and eat this dough straight from the bowl until your heart is content (I could be speaking from experience). I actually think that this dough would be wonderful frozen and incorporated into an ice cream cake or used in a million different ways. It’s just THAT good.
My cookies didn’t spread quite as much as hers did, which was a bit of a bummer because hers were so very pretty. But taste was not sacrified – these are fabulous! They take just a few minutes to mix together, so what are you waiting for? Go make them! Now!
22 Jan
Perfection Pound Cake
Posted by Michelle as Pound Cakes | 38 Comments
When a cake is revered for containing a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of eggs, and a pound of flour, can you really blame us Dorie groupies for wanting to jump on her version of the recipe? I have to say that, with the exception of homemade bread, I don’t think my kitchen has ever smelled better when something was in the oven. If you have seen the movie “Because I Said So” you may appreciate this… towards the end of the movie, Johnny says to Mandy Moore’s character: “I love that when I breathe you in you smell like cake batter.” In my mind, the smell of this cake baking is exactly what he is talking about. And really, for a baker, what better compliment is there??
Obviously the ingredient list for this cake is quite simple and the most important elements of the recipe lie in making sure that all ingredients are at room temperature, and that the recommended mixing times are followed. It was tempting to cut corners and move on to the next step after everything appeared to be incorporated, but I remained disciplined and I think my pound cake was all the better for it.
The recipe recommends checking the cake after 45 minutes to make sure it isn’t over-browning. When I checked mine it was pale, but I think it started to brown soon after that, so I would recommended covering with foil right at 45 minutes anyway since the browning seems to creep up on you!
Dorie also recommends wrapping the pound cake in saran wrap as soon as it has cooled to room temperature, and letting it sit on the counter overnight. She states that the taste and texture of the cake becomes even better after “ripening”.
MrsPresley at Good Eats ‘n Sweet Treats has joined the Tuesdays With Dorie group (welcome! 
), so be sure to head over to her blog to check out her take on the pound cake. And don’t forget, of course, to take a look at Laurie’s and April’s buttery creations.
Check back next Tuesday to see Orange Berry Muffins.
Last week: Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte
20 Jan
Homemade Gnocchi
Posted by Michelle as Pasta, Noodles and Dumplings | 31 Comments
(pardon the steam in my picture!)
I have had homemade gnocchi on my ever-growing list of things to try for quite some time now, and finally got the necessary nudge after I saw them on Joelen’s blog last week. A quick confession – I have never actually eaten non-homemade gnocchi. A spoiled little Italian girl, you may say? Well, I suppose you would be right. Many Sunday dinners at my Grandma’s have left me partial to homemade pastas of all variety. Last spring I began my homemade pasta journey with ravioli and have now added gnocchi to my list of accomplishments. I’m earning my green, white, and red stripes
I was somewhat nervous to tackle gnocchi because I know it has the possibility of coming out too dense and tough. I followed this recipe to a “T” and I think they came out just perfect. They were plump and soft and slightly firm to the bite – perfect homemade gnocchi! I made these yesterday and froze them as directed in the recipe, then cooked them today and had no problems whatsoever. I would definitely recommend this recipe, as I didn’t need to make any modifications.
15 Jan
Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte
Posted by Michelle as Cheesecakes | 34 Comments
This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was the Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte, which I couldn’t wait to tackle because cheesecake is one of my all-time favorite desserts. The crust is a thick shortbread-butter-type crust (pure heaven for a girl in love with crust!), with a layer of berry jam (I used red raspberry) spread over it, and topped with a cream cheese filling. I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful this dessert is. I guess admitting that I ate a piece for breakfast would be an indication, right? Aside from being delicious, this also has a very elegant look and would be a perfect dessert choice for a dinner party or special occasion.
Please take note that the top of the torte isn’t supposed to be THAT brown. I have a feeling that the oven temperature is off (I have an oven thermometer on my shopping list), so as a result it over-browned a bit. However, the flavor definitely wasn’t sacrificed – it was still smooth and silky.
I also learned something new while baking this torte. Up until now I had always thought of a torte as a high, layered cake, so I was curious as to why this particular cake would be referred to as a “torte”. So off to Wikipedia I went. I learned that the word “torte” is actually derived from the Italian word “torta” which was used to describe a round cake or bread. So much for my assumptions!
Head on over to Quirky Cupcake and Abby Sweets to see the tortes made by Laurie and April!
Check back next Tuesday to see Perfection Pound Cake.
Last week: Quintuple Chocolate Brownies
13 Jan
Happy 1st Birthday Einstein!
Posted by Michelle as Dog Treats | 25 Comments
Tomorrow marks Einstein’s 1st birthday, and I thought we would celebrate today by giving him a birthday cake to enjoy Einstein managed to inhale his piece of cake in under 3 seconds, so I think he was pleased with his first birthday cake.
Here are some pictures of the birthday boy enjoying his cake:
11 Jan
Homemade Bread – There’s Nothin’ Better!
Posted by Michelle as Yeast Breads | 22 Comments
It’s true, isn’t it? Nothing smells better than fresh baked bread wafting from the oven, and that first taste of soft warm bread and hard crust is like heaven. After watching Alton Brown make some bread on Good Eats the other night, I have been craving a warm, crusty loaf of homemade bread. And so today was bread baking day. The recipe that I used for this bread makes two loaves, which was just perfect. I made one regular, plain white loaf. The other I transformed into a knock-off of my grandma’s famous Bacon Cheese Bread. Usually around different holidays she will make bread with crumbled bacon and Romano or Parmesan cheese in it. It’s one of my favorite things that she makes and so I decided to make my own.
In that Good Eats episode Alton gave a great tip for getting dough to rise – put the dough in the oven (not turned on) and on the rack beneath it place a pan that has just been filled with piping hot water. With the oven door closed the steam from the water will create the humidity needed for a good dough rise. It worked wonderfully – my dough rose perfectly!
I also did a good bit of research on the best way to store homemade bread, and what I found out was that it’s pretty near impossible to keep fresh homemade bread from going stale or moldy in a few days because it does not contain any preservatives. The vast majority of the advice I found suggested slicing the bread and then, holding the loaf together as one, wrap the bread in a cling wrap, and then again in foil and store in the freezer. You can easily then take out as much as you want and let it thaw. This has been found to be better than keeping out on the counter (goes moldy quickly) or in the refrigerator (it gets dried out).
09 Jan
Banana Muffins
Posted by Michelle as Muffins | 17 Comments
I have been making these banana muffins for quite a few years now and they are always a hit. They are very moist, extremely sweet, and have a wonderful banana flavor. The original recipe comes with a mascarpone cheese frosting, but I never use it because, well, #1 – that seems more cupcake-ish than muffin-ish, and #2 – I think they are definitely good enough without it. If any of you have some tips on how to convert this recipe to a cake, I’d love to hear it! I’m not very good at that sort of thing yet 
I typically make a batch of these and wrap them individually and freeze them. When I want one we just pop it in the microwave. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do
08 Jan
Quintuple Chocolate Brownies
Posted by Michelle as Brownies and Bar Cookies | 25 Comments
For our second week of Tuesdays With Dorie, it was my turn to choose the recipe that we would tackle. After poring over endless possibilities, my eyes kept going back to the Quintuple Chocolate Brownies. I was pretty sure, upon reading the recipe, that I might go into sugar shock when I took my first bite. Sugar headaches be damned, my mind was made up – these would be our next Dorie adventure!
The 5 types of chocolate found in these brownies: unsweetened cocoa powder, bittersweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate.
Wow, when mixing together this batter I think I got a hand cramp. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but this was by far the thickest batter I have ever made for brownies. Any wavering I may have had on the notion that they might not be as rich as their name indicates went right out the window! Once in the oven, these gave off the most decadent, rich, chocolate aroma. I felt like I was in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory! These brownies were easy to throw together (no KA needed!), and taste absolutely fabulous. Bonus – they look gorgeous as well! Small is good with these babies – just a nibble will satisfy even the most needy sweet tooth!
The only thing that I think I would do differently here is instead of a white chocolate glaze I would make more of a solid layer of white chocolate on top, such that you would find on peppermint bark. To do this I would simply remove the heavy cream from the recipe and spread just melted white chocolate on top of the brownie. There is nothing wrong with the glaze as is – it’s very good! – just a personal preference for a thicker layer
We have now formed a trio of Dorie experimenters, with April from Abby Sweets joining us as well! Head on over to her blog to see her take on Tuesdays with Dorie each week.
Stay tuned next week for… Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte
Last week: Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread Cookies
