Some Weekend Baking

How was your weekend? I did a lot of decorating, a lot of organizing, some shopping, a lot of watching decorating and cooking shows and a little baking. I was hoping to whip up all my Christmas cookies this weekend and freeze the dough for later baking but that didn't happen, oh well. But I was watching Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa on Sunday and was inspired to try this pound cake recipe. It uses Buttermilk which was great since I had some that I needed to use up, but I don't remember ever using buttermilk in a pound cake recipe before. It came out delicious, not to heavy, very light and fluffy. We indulged in one and froze the other for use during the holiday.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Cookbook Review: Martha Stewart Cupcakes

We were invited to a BBQ this past Fourth of July and I contributed by whipping up some Red Velvet Cupcakes with Red, White and Blue Sprinkles on top. They were major YUMM-OO I got the recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Cookbook. They were easy to make, came out great and were very tasty.

Finally I have an audience for my "cooking shows"

Easy like Sunday Morning... Week in the Life Begins

Today begins "Week in the Life" over on Ali Edwards blog - I love following along with her whenever she does this, this time I'm just going to follow along by posting pictures on my blog, I'm not up for creating a scrapbook this time. (but again you never know...)

Here's some pictures from Sunday Morning... baking scones.

Good Luck on your Week in the Life Project if you choose to accept the mission.

Brownie Pudding = YUMMOOO

Talk about major YUMMOOO. I made Ina Garten's Brownie Pudding this past weekend for a dinner we were invited to and boy was it good and a hit. It's like a large molten lava cake - wow. It's easy to make and delicious to eat. I highly recommend trying this recipe out sometimes.

Served with vanilla ice cream man I can't get enough of this dessert. YUM!

{Red Lobster} Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

Did some quick baking last night to produce these wonderful little delicatesys ... the biscuits from Red Lobster. Who can resist these biscuits. I remember a few years back tearing thru the internet with a good friend to find the top secret recipe, well now it's easy to find I was checking out Robin Lynne's blog the other day and stumbled across her post on her biscuit making experience. For the recipe please see her blog.



Here's my pictures from my biscuit making adventure (I only made half a batch because I knew I would be the only one eating them last night and I didn't need 12).




fresh out of the oven

mixing up the melted butter, garlic powder and parsley flakes to go on top of the biscuits

enjoy.

now it's time for you to whip some up for yourself, let me know how they come out. :)

BROWNIES

I can't believe I haven't posted about these brownies yet! I know they have shown up in a few of my posts, but I have not done a "feature" article on them and they are my specialty, my all time favorite, my go to dessert.

The recipe comes from Mollie Katzen's The Moosewood Cookbook, which was probably the first cookbook I ever purchased (sorry Martha) and have used it so much that the book just opens up to the right recipes by itself every time.

These brownies are DELICIOUS! (if I say so myself) they are so heavenly and light even though they are not "lite" in the least, two sticks of butter and five eggs... but who's counting.

I hope someday you have a chance to try this recipe and let me know what you think about it. Here's some pictures of the decadent little delights. :)

Strawberry Shortcakes

YUMMMM... it's summertime. YEAH! and that means strawberry shortcakes all around. I tried this new recipe that I saw on Smitten Kitchen for the cake part of strawberry shortcakes and it tastes very good but didn't rise or was fluffy enough for my tastes. It could have been because I made the dough on Monday and didn't actually bake it until Thursday I don't know if that was the case, but I will try a different recipe soon and see how it turns out.

Regardless they were DELICIOUS here's some pictures to make your mouth water:

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Martha Stewart's Carrot Cake Cupcakes

(from the Everyday Food Cookbook)

Yummooo, this was such an easy and delicious recipe. I plan on making them again and again.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
Makes 12.
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup shredded coconut, plus more for garnish
8 ounces bar cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a standard 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners. In a bowl, combine sugar, vegetable oil, orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and eggs.
Stir in baking powder, baking soda, allspice, and salt. Add flour; mix. Stir in carrots, walnuts, and coconut.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
Frost cupcakes, and garnish with shredded coconut.

Panettone Bread Pudding

What is Pannettone?
Panettone: Panettone (Milanese: panetton) is a typical bread of Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year around Italy, and one of the symbols of the city. Maltese nationals are also traditionally associated with this sweet bread. In Latin America, especially in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru, it is a Christmas dinner staple.

Pannettone is equivalent to our fruit cake but MUCH lighter, I'm not a big fan of either pannettone or fruit cake but I saw Ina Garten making a bread pudding using it and I thought that's a way I could really enjoy pannettone. I made it for our New Years get together and I also made it again this weekend for some friends of ours to have it for dessert after our paella. It's very easy to make just takes time in the oven and a million eggs and cups of 1/2 & 1/2. I think it's delicious and best to only have once a year. :)

lot's of eggs

soaking

YUMMOOO