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Snacking in the Kitchen

~ Culinary Adventures In & Out of the Kitchen. Recipes, Reviews, Culinary Musings.

Tag Archives: dessert

Adventures in French Macaron Baking

30 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by snackingkitchen in Uncategorized

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Tags

allrecipes, baking, dessert, french, gluten free, macarons

IMG_20150923_125042

The first time I had a French macaron was on my first visit to Paris, France at the famous and breathtakingly beautiful Ladurée Bakery. Up to this point, still in my early 20s, the only macaron I have experienced was actually the coconut macaroons I’d eat for Passover. And I must admit, I wasn’t expecting much more from the French macarons as I did from the chewy, overly sweet coconut concoctions. Boy, was I wrong!

As I fell in love with France, I fell in love with these almond meringue cookies that ranged in color from the softest Easter pastels to the deepest and brightest jewel tones. With a crispy skin on the outside, the cookies are soft and tender and slightly chewy as you bite into them and discover the flavor of the butter cream or chocolate ganache that holds them together. Eating just once is too difficult. You want to get a selection of several and savor them on their own. Skip the coffee.

A decade has flown by in front of my eyes, and I have enjoyed plenty of macarons during that time. From another Ladurée Bakery in Italy and from one of my favorite bakeries in Seattle, Bakery Nouveau.

But it wasn’t until last week that I baked French macarons on my own (I don’t even remember baking them while studying culinary arts at The Culinary Institute of America).IMG_20150910_113827

The opportunity presented itself at work, and I rose up to the challenge. As I’ve mentioned in my previous posts, trying out new recipes and techniques is one of the things that I love and appreciate the most about my job as a Food Stylist and Editor at allrecipes.com.

IMG_20150922_120411

You guys! These little things are tricky business! Finicky, super time sensitive and require a lot of patience and attention to detail (think measuring all ingredients up to a gram!).

This kitchen experiment will require you to step up, buckle in, and perhaps even say a prayer or two. I know, I’ve said my share of prayers to the Macaron Goddess to ensure that my macarons bake up evenly, with beautiful, tall feet, and smooth, shiny tops.

With the 5 batches of the same recipe, some turned out better than the others. Thanks to my friends and family for encouragement along the way and readily consumption of the baked goods.

IMG_20150912_143211

Above is a photo of what my kitchen at home looked like when I tested the recipe. I colored the cookies almost a black currant color and sandwiched them with chocolate ganache flavored with pomegranate liqueur. These got served for a Rosh Hashanah celebration (the Jewish New Year) to add sweetness to the year ahead!

If you are a fan of baking, new challenges, and delicious, French sweets, do give this project a try. There are plenty of recipes out there, ranging in ratios of almond flour and sugar, baking temperature and times. I encourage you to try a few and find the one that best suits your preferences. Enjoy!IMG_20150922_161447

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Valentine’s Sweetheart Cupcakes – Recipe & Video

14 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by snackingkitchen in Allrecipes.com, Baking, Cupcakes, Holidays, Video

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Tags

baking, cupcakes, dessert, diy, food video, reicpe, valentine's day

Happy Valentine’s Day.  I hope that we all have the love in our lives worth of appreciating and celebrating.  Whether it’s the love of the parents, siblings, friends, or platonic.  Let’s wish someone in your life happy love day.

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And with that, how about a cupcake?  I worked on this recipe video for Allrecipes.com and today is the perfect day for sharing!  With the recipe, I would recommend using a regular yellow cake (instead of white), or your own from-scratch recipe.  The layering of colors is not as intimidating as it might look or sound – just take your time, and be careful of not inserting too much air into the cupcakes.

These are the perfect fun and decorative cupcakes to make for any holidays – just change the color scheme and you have Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter cupcakes at your disposal.

Recipe: Sweetheart Cucpakes

Video:

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New Year Individual Apple Pies

31 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by snackingkitchen in Baking, Dessert, Holidays

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

baking, dessert, new year, pies, sweets

Individual Apple Pies

Happy 2014!  I hope the new year brings lots of healthy, delicious, decadent delights into your kitchen and healthy, joyous adventures into your lives.

Did you know that 2014 is a year of the horse?  And what do horses love?  They love apples!  And with that in mind, I wanted to share with you a recipe for Individual Apple Pies baked in muffin pans.  For the crust, I used purchased pie crusts from Trader Joe’s.  They were buttery, flaky, and tasted homemade.  If you find yourself with extra time and energy, feel free to make your own crust.

Individual Apple Pies (makes 12)

Ingredients

4 large apple, peeled, cored, diced into 1/3-inch

2 tablespoons brown sugar, or to taste

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 individual pie crusts

1 egg, beaten

12 teaspoons butter

brown sugar, optional

Image

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees and grease 12 muffin cups with butter or nonstick spray.  I used two muffin trays, greasing every other cup to make it easier to assemble the pies, but you can use just one.  Confession, I had a very hard time getting the pies out of the tins, so be generous with the butter or consider using silicone pans.

2.  Combine apples with sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice and salt.  Set aside.

3.  Cut unrolled crusts into 24 circles approximately 4-5 inches in diameter.  You might need to re-roll the crusts to make enough circles.  It’s a great idea to chill the crusts if they get too soft.

4.  Fit 12 crusts into the muffin cups and brush with a beaten egg.

5.  Spoon the apple filling into each crust and top with a teaspoon of butter.

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6.  Fit the other 12 crust circles over the apple filling and firmly press together with the bottom crust.  Brush the tops with the beaten egg and cut small slits into the top crust for the steam to escape.  If you wish, sprinkle with extra brown sugar.

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7.  Bake in the preheated oven until the crusts are golden brown and the filling is cooked through, 45-60 minutes.  Cool and carefully remove from the muffin tins.

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Happy New Year!

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Oatmeal Cookies with Golden Raisins and Toasted Walnuts

24 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by snackingkitchen in Allrecipes.com, Baking, Cookies, Dessert

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birthday, cookies, dessert, oatmeal, recipe

Want a cookie?  How about a soft oatmeal cookie studded with golden raisins and toasted walnuts?  Hard to say “no” to that!

Oatmeal Cookies with Walnuts and Golden Raisins3

This cookie combination was a third installment in the tradition of morning birthday cookies for the Artist.  He’s been on the oatmeal kick lately, so these have seemed to fit in quite perfectly.  The latest copy of the Allrecipes.com magazine ran a story on the most popular cookie selection, and I found the recipe for the Soft Oatmeal Cookies.  I halved the recipe and added the fruit and nut.  These were a hit!

Oatmeal Cookies with Golden Raisins and Toasted Walnuts  (Makes 2 dozen cookies)

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 oatmeal (I used extra thick, old fashioned)

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Directions

1.  Beat together butter and sugar until creamy.

2. Add in the egg and beat together.

3. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Incorporate the dry ingredients slowly into the butter mixture.

4. Mix in oats, raisins and walnuts.  At this point, I refrigerated the dough overnight so it would be ready to bake in the morning.  You can bake the cookies right away.

5.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

6. Scoop cookies on parchment lined baking sheets an inch apart and bake 8-10 minutes.  Transfer to a cooling rack (directly with the parchment paper) and let cool.

Now all you have to do is sing “happy birthday” and pour in a cup of milk or glass.

Happy baking!

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I would definitely bake these again.  Chewy, sweet, healthy-tasting, with a nice crunch from the walnuts.  This recipe lends itself to many variations – how about pecans and dried cherries or pistachios and dried apricots?  Give these a try!

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Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

18 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by snackingkitchen in Cupcakes, Dessert, Holidays, Recipe

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

baking, cupcakes, dessert, recipe

carrot cake cupcake recipe

It’s hard to believe that my young brother just turned 25 years old!  Time flies, people grow up, mature, and become adults that you are proud to call your friend.

For his birthday, my brother requested Carrot Cake Cupcakes with raisins and walnuts.  I took this opportunity to use my wonderful orange KitchenAid and bake something delicious for the whole family to enjoy.  For the recipe, I adapted Ina Garten’s carrot cake cupcakes.  Modifications: 12 cupcake yield, reduction of sugar and oil, addition of baking powder, change in baking directions, toasted walnuts.  The frosting was cut in half and dressed with clementine zest.

I must admit, I was rather nervous waiting for the cupcakes to finish baking and once I removed them from the oven, my fears did not diminish.  But!  These were truly fantastic – moist, just sweet enough, with a wonderful texture variance of raisins and crunchy nuts.  The frosting with the addition of clementine zest played nicely along, lending just enough sweetness and decadence.

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/5 cups grated carrots (I used organic, with skin on, grated in a food processor)
1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
1 tablespoons flour

For the frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
zest of 1 clementine or orange

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 12-cup cupcake pan with liners and lightly grease with cooking spray.

2.  Beat together sugar, oil and vanilla until evenly incorporated.  Beat in one egg at a time.

3.  Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

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4.  Mix carrots, raisins and walnuts with 1 tablespoon of flour.  This will keep the mix-ins evenly incorporated with the cupcake batter.

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5.  Add half of the dry ingredients to the sugar-oil-egg mixture and mix just until blended.  Blend in carrots, raisins and walnuts and then add the rest of the dry ingredients.

6.  Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cups.

7.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until the tops of the cupcakes are medium-brown and the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool completely on the wire rack.  I removed the paper from cupcakes right before frosting.

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8,  For the frosting, beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla.  Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar (you might want to sift if first so it incorporates easier).  Once the frosting is of your desired consistency and sweetness (you can add more sugar), fold in clementine zest.  Frost cupcakes as desired.  I fit a piping bag with a star tip and filled it with frosting, trying a few different designs when it came to decorating.

carrot cake cupcake recipe

If the frosting gets too soft, you can refrigerate it briefly.  I chilled the cupcakes for an hour before serving to allow the frosting to set up slightly.  These would be beautiful garnished with candied carrots or toasted walnuts.  Mine came garnished with candles and a “happy birthday!” song.

By the time the cupcakes were baked, cooled and frosted, it was too dark to take any decent photos.  Sadly, I took a few with my phone on the bathroom floor.  The good news, there are a few cupcakes safely tucked in inside the refrigerator – I will attempt to take photos tomorrow!  Sweet wishes.

carrot cake cupcake recipe

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