It's a Rainbow Song for You!

White chocolate cake with white chocolate buttercream filling and frosting.

 My firstborn is turning five. This is both exciting and troubling as I scour the recesses of my mind to remember the cherub cheeked infant who used to call me "Mimi" instead of mommy...the toddler who, when she found her legs, ran belly first and head back at such a clip I was sure she was channeling Chariot's of Fire. Troubling how these memories are fading.

She's not a baby anymore. She's innocence, discovery, independence and attitude. She's a good fighter. I secretly like this about her when it doesn't exhaust me. She's brave. So brave. I'm secretly jealous of her courage when it doesn't send my adrenals into shock or add to the grey at my temples.

Resilient but fragile. Strong but would crawl back in the womb if she could. Desirous of constant attention but easily distracted. A total ham and ridiculously dramatic. That's what my little girl is made of.

Happy Birthday my sweet Madelaine Grace. A rainbow cake for you in honor of all the color you've brought into my life.

 The Cake:
Inspired by two fabulous cakes I first spotted on Pinterest:
Sprinkle Bakes
Rainbow Cake

The cake recipe is adapted from Anna Olson's White Chocolate cake. The measurements below yielded five 9" layers of cake and enough buttercream to fill, crumb coat and final coat the cake: 

White Chocolate Buttercream

• 4 cups unsalted butter at room temperature
• 32 ounces belgian white chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 4 cups icing sugar, sifted
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 

In a stand-up mixer or in a large bowl with electric beaters, beat butter until fluffy. Beat in cooled melted chocolate on medium speed. Reduce speed and beat in icing sugar, vanilla and salt (icing will be a little soft). If needed, chill for about an hour to set before using.
 
White Chocolate Cake

• 1 1/3 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 2/3 cups sugar
• 8 large eggs at room temperature
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream at room temperature
• 16 ounces white belgian chocolate, chopped
• colored food gels

• Preheat oven to 325 F (160 C). Grease and flour 9" cake pans with 2-inch sides and line bottom with parchment paper.

• In a stand-up mixer or in a large bowl with electric beaters, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, and stir in vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour to butter mixture in 4 additions, alternating with cream, blending well after each addition.
• Melt chocolate in a bowl over barely simmering water, stirring until almost melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until melted. Pour warm chocolate into cake batter while blending.

• Pour batter into 5 bowls in even amounts. I use a kitchen scale to get as close to the same amount of batter as possible. Add color to bowls one at time and in small amounts. Stir and add until you get the desired color. You don't need much and the batter is slightly yellow so you may need to play with color variation to get as true to the color as you want. 

• Pour colored batter into each prepared pan and bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Allow cake to cool 30 minutes, then remove from pan to cool completely. Wrap cake and store in fridge (or freeze) until ready to assemble.

• To assemble, slice cake tops horizontally to get a flat, even top. Spread  buttercream on bottom layer and repeat with the next layer. Crumb coat outside of cake on top and sides to cover and level. Chill for about two hours - until crumb coat is firm.

• Cover with the rest of the buttercream and decorate anyway you wish!  

I usually do 6 layers, but I didn't have yellow gel colour when I made this...

Christmas 2011

Sugar cookie cutouts with marble effect royal icing.

 
As the wrapping paper shrapnel settles and bellies begin to fill I'd like to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! And all the best to you and yours in 2012!

Cookies, made from:
Iced Sugar Cookies from Martha Stewart's HOLIDAY magazine, 2010. This recipe also works nicely.

Marble effect tutorial from Sweetopia.

Gingerbread gets lucky...!

Gingerbread whoopie pies with white chocolate chai tea buttercream filling.

I lived in Virginia Beach for about five years while powering through grad school and I have to say some of my favorite memories are connected with U.S. Thanksgiving. It is a phenomenon. It is probably the most popular holiday of the year, ousting Christmas for top spot. It is an event...THE event of the year and it is not to be missed or approached halfheartedly.

Handy life lessons I've parked in my memory based on observations at friends' tables over those years:

1. Preparing for Thanksgiving begins at least three weeks in advance with cardio workouts, recipe testing and making room in the fridge for a giant turkey
2. Tablescaping is on par with college football when it comes to priority and devotion
3. Wear loose, patterned clothing so other guests will not detect your expanding stomach or hidden elastic waistband
4.  BEST TIP: post feasting gas releasing ritual...on knees and elbows, head down, butt in the air is by far the best way to let the wind out to make room for dessert...but probably best done far away from the dessert table.
5. Eat in the afternoon, nap hard in the evening because Black Friday really begins at midnight.

It seems the matriarch of the house hosting Thanksgiving likes to have absolute control over the meal, but if you are a guest it's always polite to ask if you can bring anything. Not everyone is like this, but based on my observations so much effort went into the meal itself that the dessert options were often store bought or the old standbys: pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie...very yummy, indeed, but maybe it's time to spice up the dessert table with a little whoopie!

If you're celebrating Thanksgiving this week and are expected to bring a dessert (clear it with the hostess first) I implore you to bring these:  gingerbread whoopie pies with white chocolate chai tea buttercream filling.

I found the gingerbread whoopie pie recipe at Pink Parsley. Hands down the best recipe I've tried. They come out smooth on top, which seems to be the real trick to successful whoopie pies. She uses a lemon filling, which is delightful with gingerbread, but I like the spice of chai tea complementing the spice of gingerbread and the sweetness of white chocolate holding everything together.

Here's what you need:
Gingerbread Whoopie Pies
adapted from Pink Parsley, who adapted it from King Arthur Flour

• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
• 3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 3/4 cup whole fat yogurt (I use Stoneyfield organic whole fat plain yogurt)

White Chocolate Chai Tea Buttercream
adapted from Anna Olson

• 2 cups unsalted butter at room temperature
• 20 ounces good quality white chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 2 1/3 cups icing sugar, sifted
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup chai tea concentrate (you can use store bought, or if you'd like to make your own you can find a recipe here. If you use this one, you will not need to add vanilla extract)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Mix in the egg, beating until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed.

With the mixer on low speed, mix in half the dry ingredients.  Add the molasses, then the remaining dry ingredients.  Finally, add the whole fat yogurt, mixing until just incorporated.

Use a medium cookie scoop or a pastry bag fitted with a round tip to form the whoopie pie shapes on the prepared baking sheet.  Space the whoopie pies a few inches apart, and bake 9-12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through, until the whoopie pies are cooked through and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger.

Even though they look rough as they're going in to the oven, they still came out smooth on top.

Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with remaining dough.

While the whoopie pies are baking, make the filling, OR the icing can be made ahead and chilled for up to a week, or wrapped and frozen up to a month (thaw refrigerated). Once thawed, beat to make fluffy, then use.

In a stand-up mixer or in a large bowl with electric beaters, beat butter until fluffy. Beat in cooled melted chocolate on medium speed. Reduce speed and beat in icing sugar, vanilla and chai tea concentrate (icing will be a little soft). Chill for about an hour to set before using.

Arrange the whoopie pies so that each bottom has a matching top (as close in size and shape as you can). Fill a piping bag or ziploc with the filling and put a dollop in the middle of the whoopie pie. Place the top on and press gently until the filling meets the edge of the whoopie pie.

Refrigerate until filling is firm and they will be ready for transport. Keep refrigerated until an hour or two before serving. You want the  the filling to reach room temperature before consuming.

An alternative to gingerbread whoopie pies is pumpkin. Just as festive, of course, but maybe find out if there will be a lot of pumpkin desserts before you commit to adding yet another pumpkin to the table. Here are two recipes that are quite lovely and would go spectacularly with the white chocolate chai tea buttercream: Browneyedbaker.com and Mowielicious.com 

My eldest tackling a pumpkin whoopie pie with white chocolate chai tea buttercream filling.

For those of you ramping up for the event of the year, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving. May you enjoy the people you're with, get a parking space on Black Friday and kick off the Christmas season with a belly full of gingerbread whoopie pies!

Sugar and Spice and Vanilla Chai Nice

Vanilla Chai Latte: homemade vanilla chai concentrate

I love LOVE the fall season. The sun is still warm but the air is cool... the leaves are turning red, orange and yellow. It's the perfect weather to sit on the porch and sip warm, spicy chai.

I love making chai concentrate. My whole house smells like the Spice Market in Istanbul. It's not hard to do and it's considerably more economical than buying the concentrates at the grocery store. And this way you can manage you're quantities of sugar, caffeine, tea strength, etc.

This recipe was adapted from one sent to me by the lovely Dana VanVeller (who got it from her friend Jess, who got it for our friend Marcia Siggelkow, who got it from her friend Jen)...recipe origin unknown at this point, but I will keep you posted when I find it.

What you'll need to do:
Get a stock pot that will hold 5 liters of water, but don't fill it up just yet...

Toss in a blender and blend just to break them up, or use a mortar and pestle:
15 cinnamon sticks

 Then add:
(Again, blend just to break them up)
Or if you're using mortar and pestle crush each spice one at a time and put in pot as you go.

1/4 cup coriander seeds

 1/2 cup whole allspice

 1/4 cup cardamom pods (or just the seeds if that's what you can find)

 1/4 cup peppercorns

 Add 2 vanilla beans sliced lengthwise (or I use 4 left over vanilla bean pods - the guts have been scraped and used in something else)
1 tsp whole cloves (not crushed)
Add 6 inches of sliced ginger.

Add 5 liters of water.
Simmer for 2 or more hours.
Remove from heat

At this point you can add 1 cup of loose black tea (in cheese cloth or tea bags so you can take it out easily). Steep for 2-3 minutes. The longer you steep the tea the more bitter it gets.

I choose not to add tea at this point. I prefer to add a sachet of black tea when I make myself a cup of chai. That way I can choose whether or not I'd like caffeinated or decaffeinated tea.

Pour concentrate through strainer into a pitcher, or I use mason jars so I can store it in my fridge a little easier. Should be good for up to 3 weeks in a sealed jar.

There are many ways to make your cuppa chai. Here is one suggestion:

• Fill your mug half way with the chai concentrate and warm it up (either stove top in a saucepan or in the microwave...this is when I also add my tea sachet)
• Put about the same amount of milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, whisking the whole time...it should froth a little. Add to your chai.
• Add honey to sweeten if desired

 Enjoy!

Delectable Chocolate Chip Cookies

Now that autumn is here, a great way to get cozy on a rainy day or  a cool night is making classic chocolate chip cookies.

Everybody swears by their chocolate chip cookie recipe...but I really swear by this one. I have tried dozens of variations of the chocolate chip cookie recipe and this is where I have landed. It is my number one seller at markets and online orders. Why? Maybe it's the melt in your mouth goodness of Belgian chocolate and soft cookie. Or the hint of caramel from the brown sugar. Whatever the reason, they are borderline addictive. The hardest part about making these for other people is not eating them up myself!

Here's what you need to do:
preheat oven to 375 F

combine in bowl (mix with  a spoon not a whisk):
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

in a seperate larger bowl, mix: (most helpful in a stand mixer and paddle attachment)
*add in order until each is fully mixed*

2 sticks (1 cup) almost melted butter (3/4 fully melted and mix it until smooth - no butter lumps)

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup regular sugar
2 eggs (room temp)
1 tsp vanilla

add dry to wet, mix just until ingredients are incorporated.

The consistency is important. It shouldn't be so runny it drips off the paddle or so stiff nothing falls off the paddle. It should slowly fall off the paddle in chunks

add 1 1/2 cups Belgian chocolate chips...mix until just incorporated...

don't sully this classic with cheap waxy chocolate...it doesn't cost much more to indulge in good Belgian chocolate which you can find at any bulk store or the bulk aisle of your grocery store.

tablespoon dough onto parchment lined cookie sheet.

 Bake for 11-13 minutes...until just brown around the edges...

they'll be a little puffy when you take them out of the oven...

...but they'll flatten a little as they cool

Let cool...at least a little bit...eat up!

Rainy day pick-me-up serving suggestion: serve with steamed milk, latte or cup of tea...cozy on a comfy chair and read the funniest book you have. Enjoy!