Sweet Indulgence

One of the residents mentioned yesterday that their last day is today. So for a nice send-off, I decided to bring in something sweet. Originally I planned on making something myself, but after drinks at Mohawk, I decided I wasn't in the mood for baking and went to sleep early instead.

Picked this up at Bella Napoli, along with a couple loaves of the crispy torpedoes and cinnamon twists. I don't remember what this is called... seven sons? It was with some other coffee cakes in the case. Basically it's cinnamon rolls with pecans and some haphazard glazing. $5.95.

A bit on the dry side, and the pecans were soft. But my co-workers enjoyed it. The resident sadly did not have any - was stuck in the OR working away.

The torpedoes M and I ate for lunch, paired with a Spanish cheese assortment and pickled things. I wasn't in the mood to bake last night, was in the mood to prepare a lunch this morning. Just coffee and casual reading thankyouverymuch.

American Baking and Pastry - Tricky Dough

It was the last lab of my American Baking & Pastry class so naturally I wanted to finish on an up note. For the most part I've been doing well with the baking, with some glitches here and there, but nothing that would make me feel like a baking dummy.

But along came the Cranberry Walnut Tart. And that dough. That dough!

Let's start from the beginning. I decided this morning that I wanted to do the special dessert for this week. The week's theme was New England and what's more New England than cranberries? Looked over the recipe, seemed simple enough. Thought it was strange we using a different dough for the tart shells, especially since there was an Apple Caramel Tart for the B menu that used Pate Brisee.

Whatever, a new dough to learn.

I was paired up with my partner from the last lab (Double Chocolate Cream Puff) and went checked the fridge to see if there was extra tart dough we could use and woohoo! More than enough. Chef had also mentioned making another batch just to practice making the dough. Sure, but after we got these tarts going.

The trick with this dough, according to Chef, was to keep it cold. Frozen. So we tried to work quickly, rolling out the dough in the sheeter and cutting out pieces to fit into the tart tins without really having to work it too much. Mostly pushing it into the tin, removing any air bubbles, and cutting off the excess. When we had our 24 tart shells, we stuck them in the freezer and waited.

And waited. 

Every now and then I would peek and press on the dough, to feel for any give. When it seemed firm enough, I pulled the tray out of the freezer and popped them into the convection oven. The recipe calls for it to bake in a convection over until pale before pulling them out, filling, and finishing the bake in a deck oven.

All was well for a minute. Then came the fall.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I really did say that. All exaggerated with clenched fists and shaking my head. Why did they collapse?!? We just couldn't figure out what happened. Followed everything according to the directions. Except one.

We didn't show Chef the tarts before they went in the oven. When we called him over, it was what he pointed out first. What we thought was frozen wasn't frozen enough. They should have gone into the rapid chiller before baking. There was some leftover dough, but I went ahead and made another batch. I was planning on making some anyways. Wrapped the finished dough in cling and let it sit in the freezer while we rolled out the old dough. When the tarts tins were prepared, we placed them in the rapid chiller and let them sit there for about 30 minutes. Chef cranked up the temperature in the convection oven slightly, and stayed there to watch how the frozen tart dough would fare. 

First minute was okay. Whew.

Then came the fall.

NOOOOOOOO!!! AGAIN?!?

I was seriously doubting my baking abilities at this point. Followed the recipe... made sure it was frozen. Why why why why why why why?!? And then I heard this:

"We've been having problems with this all week."

Really? If only this was mention when we started! I felt slightly better.

It wasn't as tall as it was supposed to be, but we still used the baked tarts. The filling for these tarts is similar to pecan pie filling. Walnuts are toasted in a pan before being chopped. My partner was in charge of the walnuts and chopped them fine, but not too fine. I roughly chopped the cranberries, you should be able to tell that there are cranberries in there. To this eggs, melted butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup are added. Filled the tarts and baked them in a deck oven at 350.

As you can see, a decent portion of the walnut/cranberry with just enough of the liquid from that mixture. According to the recipe, it should be baked for 10-15 minutes of until firm. Ended up taking 20ish mintues and turning the pans around.

How it looked like finished. Kind of surprised it didn't brown too much.

Here's some close up action of the tart. I suppose I could have chopped the cranberries finer, but wouldn't you want to be able to tell you were in fact eating a cranberry? Got to eat a broken one. Reminded me of the walnut boat tarts I used to buy from the Philippine Bread House. 



Cupcake Decorating Class at the Library

 

 

Last night the Lansingburgh library branch had their cupcake decorating class. If you looked at the page last week, you would have seen that I attended the cooking decorating class. Loads of fun, and a reality check that my decorating skills are... abysmal.

 

troof.

 

Anyways, I got to the class a bit late, but I don't think I missed too much. Becky did a quick demonstration of some ways to decorate in the Halloween theme. She did the spider web pattern, which didn't work too well... probably because the icing was thicker. There was also a ghost (which I didn't make), and a mummy. I think I overheard her say seventeen people had signed up for the class, but only seven people showed up. Maybe it was too cold for them? Oh well... more cupcakes for those of us that made it!

It's very possible there may be another class for the holiday season. And if so, I'll definitely be signing up.

 

Cookie Decorating Class at the Library

 

 

In the ongoing City Wars, Troy has shown once again why it's better than Albany -

 

Free cookie decorating classes.

 

At the library.

 

FREE COOKIES!!!

 

Thanks to a program called The Community Art$Grant from The Arts Center of the Capital Region (and the New York State Council on the Arts), the Lansingburgh branch is holding free arts & crafts workshops for the public. Sadly, I found out too late for some classes (Embroidery, Zumba), but I was able to sign up for cookie and small cake decorating classes taught by Becky from Sweet Sues here in Troy.

 

You sign up online, and all you need walking in there is a sugar craving and big imagination. Becky was great, and demonstrated how to use Royal icing and some designs before the group went and made their own Halloween themed cookies. Supplies were limited (understandable, considering budget restraints and holding the class in a library instead of the bake shop), so people were walking over to the other tables asking to borrow a color.

 

Working with the icing was a lot more difficult than I thought it would. Those cooks on tv make it seem so easy... but in reality what should have been smooth lines turned into shaky squiggles. The pressure I applied to the bag kept changing, so the thickness varied. I know now that I should probably prop something against my wrist so I can have a steadier hand when outlining.

 

I waited until M got home a few hours later before we dove into my creations. The sugar cookie/Royal icing pairing was way too sweet for me. I think I'll need to use a butter or not-so-sweet sugar cookie when I make some in the future. And trust me, I will. I gotta work on my icing skills.

 

Next Tuesday Becky will be teaching the small cake decorating class, but as mentioned before, due to limited supplies she's thinking it will most likely be cupcake decorating. Which is completely fine by me - I am all about the free learning. You can still sign up for the class - just head on over to this link and sign up!

 

See you there!

King Cakes and Gumbo

What a busy week this one was, eh? CNY on Sunday, followed two days later by Fat Tuesday, with Ash Wednesday and Valentines Day following right afterwards. I am sure there are many out there with thinner wallets after all that.

Moving on.

Albany Jane threw a little shindig on Tuesday, inviting a few friends over for drinks and a HUGE pot of gumbo. I didn’t want to arrive at the party empty handed, so I picked up dessert from Bella Napoli. I got some treats for me as well, but the cake was all for sharing.

So traditionally the baby is baked into the cake but I guess the risk of choking on that baby is too high. So they just throw it on top. Lame. Perhaps people should learn to actually chew their food, instead of swallowing it whole. I didn’t know you could get these cakes in different flavors. I always imagined it just being a big ol’ cinnamon roll with colorful icing. And beads. And a naked inedible baby.

Gumbo! Very hearty, and the sausage was spicier than I was expecting. It was a bit of a sniffle inducer, but it didn’t stop me from finishing the bowl. There were some other nibbles that I didn’t take pictures of – the homemade donut holes someone brought, and toasties with smoked salmon. Ahh… thinking about it all is making me hungry.

Group Project!

I spotted this at Stewart's and thought "Oh my goodness! How wonderful and horrible!" It's the lazy person's dream come true - instead of slaving away in the kitchen for something to bring to the work party, you just have to whip this sucker out and done.

It just doesn't taste the same. It's got that we tried to make it taste like the stuff you make at home but then there's that whole shelf life thing. Too soft and too much marshmallow. And way too sweet. I can just see the dentists salivating at the carries these snacks can produce.

What if we had a craft-a-long of sorts? Go to your nearest Stewart's or store selling the sheets and make something with it. If you are so technologically inclined, post a picture. Send me an email with said picture and I can do a post with all of your creations.

Screw healthy. I want creativity! Tis the season... however it goes.

WTH?!?

Yes, I went back. But I have since learned my lesson. Hot tea and a marshmallow bar. Really could have done without the marshmallow bar, tasted kind of stale. I would have stayed longer and got more reading done, but two things prevented this from happening -

1. It was pretty cold in there. I had to wear my fleece, which makes reading... bulky. I did my best to stay away from the door, but there was still a draft. And yes... wearing a short sleeve shirt didn't help in my seeking warmth, but easier to cook in short sleeves.
2. Steelers - Ravens game. Sunday night game, and it's on NBC. My cable-less butt depends on them playing on over the air stations so I can get my Pittsburgh fix. Plus I have WDVE on in the background. It's not a pretty sight... Ravens are up and I have been yelling at the screen.

It's the Thought That Counts

Lemondrop (Colonie,NY)

Now That's a Steal!

I was at Roma Foods on a pork belly mission when I spotted this in the freezer. I didn't actually see the price at first, just saw that there was tiramisu. On closer inspection is when I noticed the price. Three cents, for that one slice... really?

Curious, I grabbed a sliced and headed for the register. And well well well... it was indeed the correct price!

The best three Lincolns I have ever spent.

Pie Season

"Don't forget to bring the pie home today, okay?"

Recently a co-worker went apple picking with his wife at a nearby orchard. I asked what she planned on making and he answered matter of fact, "a pie, of course." Considering she just moved here from another country... one where making apple pies isn't a common occurrence, I was curious how it would turn out.

Holy moly, was this pie good! It was an apple crumb, a pie I'm not that big into, but this may have changed me on them. A nice thick layer of apples, the filling was moist and not overly sweet. It almost tasted as if it was a caramel apple pie. Could you imagine? A caramel apple pie? Me want. NOW.

M and I fought over the remaining slices. We tried our best to be equal, but it's hard when the pie was so good.

I think I'll have to find out that recipe.

Homemade Berry Ice Cream

I am almost convinced I need to get this ice cream maker. Nothing fancy, a mix of strawberries and blueberries. I'll try to do a write up of this recipe later this week.

If I do buy this ice cream maker, I am making sure I get an extra gel canister. I think it will cut down on the ice crystals (not that there were too many... they disappeared when it softened up a bit). And I need a proper ice cream scoop.

Easter Cookie

 

Fat upon sugar with more sugar, studded with chocolate covered chocolate.

Bad and yet so good. Where is my coffee?!?

A Consequence of Global Warming?

Isn’t it too early for the Shamrock shake? Not that I’m complaining… but still. I love me liquid thin mints. Love. Love. Love.

Apple Cider Donuts

I don’t know about you, but one of these would be good this morning. Perhaps paired with some apple cider? Or at least some coffee. I picked these sugar coated darlings up from DePiero’s Farm, which along with purchasing pumpkins, is the thing to do in Montvale in the fall. The place was packed, as usual… making my shopping mission there as quick as possible.

But these, I waited for. Took a number and waited. But hey, it’s cool. They’re apple cider donuts! Yeah, so what if they use a pre-made mix… I’m sure they add in a ton of their cider into it.

Oh, by the way, Saturday is Tour de Donut. I’ll be there, and if you’re free I suggest you should too.

Greek Yogurt

Free samples at work!

Brownie Cookie Cookie

Basically, it’s three treats in one.

Cooking Cousins

“I want to make churros,” my cousin mentioned to me when I had brought up the Father’s Day lunch. I wasn’t planning on making anything at all, so I didn’t think twice about that statement.

And not to brag, but I did teach the girl how to cook.

Newtons Fruit Thins

As a part of Foodbuzz’s Tastemaker Program, I received a package of these cookies to try and write about.

Dream Puff Marshmallows

I can’t believe it took me this long to finally try this.