30 Jun
Wedding Shower Cake
Posted by Michelle as Special Occasion Cakes | 2 Comments
My first “official” cake for an event, and it was a huge success! I made this cake for the wedding shower of one of my sister’s best friends. There were approximately 35 people in attendance, and two of them approached me for business cards, and a good many more gave me many compliments on the cake. The bride’s colors are sage green and silver and her invitation “theme” was circles and squares. I tried to incorporate all of those elements into the cake and I think I succeeded, as the bride was extremely happy with the cake. I wish the lighting would have been better (or that I had a better camera), as none of my pictures really turned out all that well, but they do the job 
29 Jun
Danish Braid
Posted by Michelle as Pastries | 4 Comments
I did a little dance of joy when I saw what the June challenge would be for Daring Bakers. I have been wanting to make a homemade danish (or really any pastry) for quite some time now, but had never taken the plunge before now. So thank you to this month’s hosts, Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben of What’s Cookin’, for choosing such an awesome challenge! I am not sure what I waited so long for, because this was definitely not as difficult as I envisioned it might be. The process for making the dough was much the same as bread, with the added step of rolling a block of butter into it (the key to the flaky dough that is characteristic of pastries). The results were fabulous! I made this early in the month for a visit by my mom and sister and made three varieties: the apple in the recipe, peach (my mom’s favorite), and cream cheese (MY favorite).
More about the braids, the recipe, and more pictures after the break…
26 Jun
Parmesan Chicken
Posted by Michelle as Poultry | 0 Comments
Another Thursday installment of the Barefoot Bloggers, and this Thursday features Ina Garten’s Parmesan Chicken, a wonderful selection from Megan of My Baking Adventures. Chicken pounded thin, coated in a traditional breading of flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs/Parmesan, and then sauteed in a combination of olive oil and butter – this is a classic dish that Ina has managed to perfect. Served over a bed of greens, this is a wonderfully satisfying meal.
24 Jun
Basic Pizza Dough
Posted by Michelle as Pizza, Flatbreads and Crackers | 24 Comments
Dressed up as a Mushroom, Sage, Fontina, and Parmesan Pizza.
The search for a great pizza dough recipe is very similar to the one I just discussed regarding the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. There always seem to be new recipes making the Internet circuit before fading out when another one comes along. Last year I tried a recipe that was all the rage; it was from Allrecipes.com, and I had blogged about it, but that post has mysteriously gone missing. No matter, I wasn’t much of a fan – I found it to be much too doughy. I then moved on to Cooking Light’s Thin and Crispy Pizza Crust, which, while not doughy, seemed to err too much in the other direction. Likely because it is a “light” recipe, the crust was paper thin. Tonight, I think I hit the jackpot. Yet another winner from my Baking Illustrated cookbook from Cook’s Illustrated magazine. This crust is the perfect combination of a wonderfully crisp outer crust and chewy interior.
What’s behind the perfect pizza crust and recipes after the break…
21 Jun
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Posted by Michelle as Cookies | 61 Comments
I think that just about everyone I know is constantly on a search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Most (myself included) have been let down by the recipe on the back of the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip bag, and there are many recipes floating around the Internet that seem to gain popularity and become fads before dying off when people move on to the latest and greatest. I was really please with the cookie I created last fall, as it resulted in the chewy texture I was looking for. But these Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, they really take the cake. Big, beautiful, bakery-quality chocolate chip cookies. It’s official – my love affair with America’s Test Kitchens and the Baking Illustrated cookbook continues!
More on the cookies, another PSA for weighing dry ingredients, and the recipe after the break…
18 Jun
Wilton Course III, Class 4
Posted by Michelle as Special Occasion Cakes | 0 Comments
My final cake, a 2-tier wedding-style cake. This cake consists of 10-inch and 6-inch cakes, covered in fondant with fondant roses and leaves, and buttercream borders. I actually completed this cake on my own at home because I came down with a little bug and couldn’t make it to my final class. I am pretty proud of completing this with only the instruction of the book and not a teacher!
These roses were definitely time-intensive, as it probably took about 5-6 hours total to construct the 38 roses that went on this cake. Other than that, it was a pretty typical decorating job. I am having a great time doing cake decorating and will move on to the Wilton Fondant & Gum Paste class in July.
More pictures after the break (I went a little crazy with the camera)…
17 Jun
Eclairs and Cream Puffs
Posted by Michelle as Pastries | 24 Comments
You may notice that my post does not have a “TWD” header on it as you have come to find on most Tuesdays here at Sugar & Spice. Sadly, I have taken a break from Tuesdays With Dorie, as I have found recently that the commitment was getting to be a lot given some other things I have going on, and I wanted to free up some of my time and grocery budget (not to mention my waist line!) to ensure I had the opportunity to begin tackling things that have been on my “to make” list for quite some time. I still may bake along unofficially some weeks as well as use the recipes as inspiration to tackle those things that I’ve been dying to make.
That is exactly what I did this week – I have wanted to make éclairs and cream puffs for ages, but never made the time. After seeing that this week’s TWD pick was the Peppermint Cream Puff, I decided to roll up my sleeves and finally conquer a pastry!
Continue reading to find out how the pâte à choux went, the secret ingredient to the richest pastry cream ever, pictures of the cream puffs, and recipes of course!
12 Jun
Pesto Pasta & Chicken
Posted by Michelle as Pasta, Noodles and Dumplings, Poultry | 26 Comments
What a fabulous meal! This was my first time making homemade pesto and the smell of it brought me back to my childhood and images of my grandfather tending to his garden. This was a great break from our usual dinners and something that I will definitely make more often. Thank you to Barefoot Blogger Elizabeth of Ugg Smell Food for choosing this recipe!
I adapted this recipe a bit to suit what I could find in the store and my allergies. First things first, my allergies. I am allergic to all nuts, so I had to venture out and make my own pesto sans the nuts. Quite easy, actually. Next, I couldn’t find much basil at our store and knew I wouldn’t have enough, so I supplemented what I had with baby spinach. I thought it added a great dimension of flavor! However, since I did this I eliminated the frozen chopped spinach (as well as the mayo and lemon juice). And since I like to incorporate protein in the form of meat in most of my dinners, I added some sauteed chicken breast to the dish. So in the end you get a bow tie pasta dish with chicken and a spinach-basil pesto. Honestly, it was fabulous and I really enjoyed it!
See how the other Barefoot Bloggers liked this dish here.
The original recipe as well as my spinach-basil (no nut!) pesto after the break…
11 Jun
Wilton Course III: Class 2
Posted by Michelle as Special Occasion Cakes | 20 Comments
My very first fondant cake! I was excited about working with fondant, and it turned out to be really easy once I got the hang of it. Kneading it may give me carpal tunnel, but I was beyond pleased with the final product. All said and done, the decorating ended up taking me close to 2.5 hours to complete, but a lot of that was instruction time in learning how to knead the fondant, roll it out, cut it, etc. I think I might be addicted to fondant now – making the decorations was so much fun!
Next class – doing a rose in fondant and learning some additional flowers with royal icing. And then the finale – a two-tier cake!
10 Jun
Fresh Strawberry Tart
Posted by Michelle as Tarts and Galettes | 30 Comments
This week’s selection came from Marie at A Year in Oak Cottage, and it was a perfect pick to top off four days of 90-degree plus weather. Nothing screams summer quite like strawberries! This recipe was described by Dorie as a rustic type of tart, with strawberry jam spread on the tart and each person piling on as many strawberries as desired from a big bowl served in the middle of the table.
More about the tart after the break…
