Pastry Voyage

It has been too busy and nice out lately to be posting all my baking, but this desirved to go online.  If only so I can show off my marzipan garden.  I made one for Easter that was a complete marzipan carrot veggies patch, and this cake for May Day to celebrate the approaching gardening season.  Although I like oreos, I can’t wait to get my hands into some real dirt and veggies. 

This cake is a recipe by chef John Barricelli, packed with pecans and a pound of carrots, which could trick you into disregarding the copious amounts of sugar and butter.  Decorations are all edible and include a cream cheese frosting, oreo-cookie dirt, and marzipan molded veggies.  I’m glad I took pictures, because the cake lasted only 30 minutes at work. 

Marzipan Veggies

A non-traditional take on the traditional New England Treat.

Somehow I grew up without developing a taste for the lunchbag desserts of Little Debbie and Twinkies.  And the taste of those airy cellophane-wrapped Devil Dogs are precisely what comes to my mind when I eat most whoopie pies.  That being said, I became a huge fan of the whoopie pies sold at Boston’s Finale Restaurants, with dense brownie-like layers and a cream-cheese filling.   After much searching and conceptualizing, I found just the recipe I believed would be close.  The whoopie pies were served at a holiday party that the SO and I hosted, while most people were consumed with the beverages, the whoopie pies were very much loved by the crowd.

I created several fillings, the best and favorite being the plain cream cheese.  My love of chocolate and mint inspired me to create a very festive pie that tasted as good as it looked.  The peanut butter filled pies were a bit to rich and creamy for my tastes, but I was told they were a wonderful variation on a Reese’s (I took that as a compliment, although I do not find Reese’s tempting at all).

Overall, a very delicious finger-food for a holiday cocktail/wii party.  I also sent some home with a co-worker and am told they were a great treat to pass around on Christmas day.

Ghirardelli: cocoa powder, semi-sweet, and 65%

Whoopie batter, finger-licking good :)

Next time I will pipe them out

Brownie-like whoopies, melt in your mouth with a chocolate rush

Cream cheese filling

Mint Whoopie Pies

Mint Whoopie Pies

Peanut butter Whoopie Pies, very rich!

Whoopie Pie Tower

My first order for the holidays, an improvement on a previous attempt.  These tartelettes came out as a completely delicious desert.  I switched to a sweet tart pastry: pate sucre as opposed to the pate brisee previously used.  While a bit more difficult to work with this pastry, I think the switch made for a nice base to the tarts.  The small cortlands remained firm and flavorful.  The additions to this round of tarts were the delicious cream-cheese filling and lightly toasted almond sliver topping.  The variety of flavors and textures: nutty, sweet, juicy, tart, creamy, flaky, crunchy, etc. made for the best tarts that have ever come out of my kitchen.  Just as soon as they were cooled, I packaged and sent them off for another family to enjoy.

Shells, cream cheese filling

Tarts ready to bake

Fresh and cooling, I am drooling ;)

Apple Cream Cheese Tartelettes

It is so hard to say good-bye

Holiday Tartelettes

   So many sweet smells through the house this slow Saturday morning.  this recipe was a continuation of my bread-making trials of my new standing mixer.  Another wonderful product from the kitchen that was divided and delivered to friends and family.  I managed to sneak some tastes from the loaf and was so trilled with the results.  It has to have been 5 years since I have made this bread.  Making a simple yet significant change: heating the milk with lemon and cardamom on stovetop before incorportating, allowed for a bolder flavor release.

Cardamom and Lemon, key ingredients in this flavorful sweet bread.

Preparing ingredients.

Letting the mixer start off the hard part.

Can't always avoid kneading, so I'll just skip the gym today.

Beautiful dough orb, ready to rise.

Dough Pieces, so easy to work with on the granite it did not require flour.

Braiding

Rising cardamom loaf

Cooling: so aromatic I can hardly resist!

Sweet Cardamom Bread: a wonderful present (if you can part with it)