Milk Chocolate Malt Ball Cake, pg 60

My husband had a lot of allergies as a baby/child. And when I say a lot, I mean practically every food ever known. He was especially allergic to malt. Not that it would kill him or anything but it made his nose run and the generic allergy unhappiness. Because of this he has avoided malt pretty much his entire life. Last summer we stopped for milkshakes and he decided to give it a go. Like all of his other food allergies, this one didn’t affect him anymore so he was pretty excited to try out a malt cake.

 The Verdict: I had high expectations and really, the cake fell short. Sure, it was a perfectly fine cake but with such heavy and rich frosting, you couldn’t really taste the malt. Actually, when just eating the cake plain you couldn’t really taste the malt. It’s just an ok white cake with chocolate frosting cake. It was actually really heavy and people at work who usually gobble my treats up within a few hours were really pacing themselves with this one.

Tips for Next Time: Eh, I’ll skip it. It’s a nice concept and sounds good on paper but it just didn’t deliver for me.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake, pg 38

As much as it pains me, I follow the instructions in the book exactly and the book said something about actually swirling the layers together. Yes, they refer to the cinnamon mixture as the swirl mixture and there is swirl in the name of the cake but actual instructions are to layer the cake batter and the swirl mixture, toss on the crumb topping and place in oven – no actual swirling involved. Would actually swirling the cinnamon layer into the cake layer make a difference? Nope. But it drove me crazy nonetheless. 

The Verdict: Ehhh. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t amazing either. The cinnamon layer had chocolate powder mixed into it which I wasn’t a huge fan of either. 

Tips for Next Time: Skip it all together. There is no shortage of coffee cake recipes and if it doesn’t rock my world, I’m not even going to bother with it. The cake was super heavy (as one would expect with a full 16 oz carton of sour cream!) and while the topping was tasty, it’s a small fraction of the overall recipe. 

Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie, pg 98

I messed something up at work so I told my customer that the next time he saw me he could throw something at me or I can bring in a pie, his choice. He didn’t respond so I chose for him and brought in this pie. I was expecting it to be super super sweet and kind of disgusting so I didn’t ask for feedback. I had enough crust overhang that I made myself a little tart which I had the following day. To my surprise, it was actually good!

The Verdict: It was good but the concept is a little weird. Why make a cookie pie, just make cookies. They’re easier to make, share and eat.

Tips for Next Time: Maybe some pecans might be a nice addition but really, it’s fine as is.

Pear Plum Crisp, pg 113

In our co-op baskets we had plums which the husband doesn’t like and quite frankly, I was sick of (I even made a plum milkshake, it was not successful). I bought some pears and we were good to go. When I first started this project I was determined to make the recipes exactly.as.written. but this recipe I changed my mind and I went with what I thought would work best. Mostly because my plums were a little overripe and mushy and I knew that it would just be a runny sludgy mess so I added some cornstarch to the mixture.

The Verdict: Sure enough, the filling firmed up to a tasty pear/plum mush, almost like a chunky jam. The topping was crisp, buttery and salty; the way it should be. I think it would have been better had my plums not been overripe but at the same time I think that the flavor of the pears was lost.

Tips for Next Time: I think a crisp is not a good crowd pleaser, it’s a little hit and miss on who likes crisps. But if I was in the fruit crisp mood, I’d try this one again with a different mix of fruits.

Hazelnut Cinnamon Chip Biscotti, pg 147

I just recently discovered biscotti a few years ago and how easy it is to make. Trouble is, people don’t like it, which is a pretty big problem when you’re making treats to share. I approached this recipe as a “throw away” recipe as in I had to make it because I’m doing the entire book but I didn’t think it would be a big winner with people. Especially since they don’t have any oil or butter. Fat = tasty.

Sorry that I don’t have a better picture,  my husband got a little carried away when cleaning out the cabinets and threw my photo samples away.

The Verdict: Boy was I wrong! I was visiting some customers so I dropped some cookies off and I was hounded for a few days until I remembered to bring in the recipe. Same thing at work! People loved these. I was afraid of the hazelnut being too strong but the chocolate helped.

Tips for Next Time: I split the recipe into 2 logs when I baked the cookies for the first time. Even then the middle didn’t bake through which made it a mess to cut and bake for the 2^nd time but it also meant that they weren’t super dried out and brittle like most biscotti. I gave the recipe to someone else who loved what I brought in but they baked it as long as the book said and hated the normal dry and brittle texture. Next time I’m going to make them with almonds (for cost reasons!) and I’ll bake them for a little bit longer. Also, a helpful tip for biscotti, when forming the dough into logs before baking it for the first time, the dough is a million times easier to shape if you wet you hands first.

Classic Sugar Cookie, pg 148

My niece was turning 2 and I thought it would be the perfect time to make sugar cookies. She loves play dough so I brought over the cookie dough and she helped cut the cookies. We got a cute fish and number 2 cookie cutter but she kept wanting to use the boy and girl cookie cutter. Kids.

The Verdict: I had intended to make cookies and freeze them for my nieces party but my sister had to give me a reality check, these cookies wouldn’t last but a few days in their house. Fair enough. The recipe didn’t change my life but it’s really just a sugar cookie. It’s perfectly acceptable and if I were in need to a sugar cookie recipe I wouldn’t hesitate to use this one again but I don’t think I don’t think that there will be a scenario where I’ll be like “you know what I really want… ..a sugar cookie!”

Tips for Next Time: It’s fine as is, just remember that it needs to chill 3 hours before you can make cookies and even then, always keep the dough chilled as best as possible when cutting out the cookies.

Lemon Lemon Loaf, pg 41

I have a fondness for quick breads. They mix together quickly, I don’t have to deal with a bunch of pans and it’s easy to transport but can feed a lot of people. Perfect. Except this recipe isn’t quick. Sifting flour, melting and cooling butter, zesting and juicing lemons and using a food processor to mix the wet ingredients, and then folding it all together. Really?! I was game though and I thought that my food processor would be big enough to meet the recipes requirements because it’s a freaking bosch but I quickly learned of my mistake when I started adding the butter and it started leaking out of the lid. Grumpiness.

The Verdict: The bread itself doesn’t have a strong lemon flavor. The syrup you coat it in is pretty much straight up lemon so the top is tart but the rest of the cake is ho-hum. To be fair, it is moist and has a nice crumb.

Tips for Next Time: I spent way too much time on making the recipe for mixed feelings about a quick bread! Forget it, I’m moving on.

Baked Bars, pg 122

I think every bakery has some version of these bars for two simple reasons; they’re easy and have a little of everything so everyone will love them.

The Verdict: HOLY BUTTER! Way too much butter in the crust. In fact it wasn’t a crust, it was so wet that it melded into the rest of the bar. And once they start to warm up they’re a giant mess. The butter run off in the baking dish was repulsive (even though I used parchment!) and I happened to flip a bar over and noticed the pockets of butter in the crust.

That being said, people lost their crap over these. Someone actually declared that it was the best thing I’ve ever baked and I wanted to punch him in the neck because it was so insulting. Out of everything I’ve made he loved the butter drenched sugar bars? It’s maddening. It’s a good recipe for beginners, aside from waiting for the crust to cook, cool and then to bake it again, it’s probably as easy as baking gets.

I also diverted slightly from this recipe and used graham crackers and chocolate crumbs in the crust because I knew that it could only improve the crust and I had chocolate crumbs that I wanted to get rid of.

Tips for Next Time: Sigh. I know that there is going to be a next time. No point in denying it. Next time I’m going to melt ½ cup of butter to start with and then gradually add more butter until the crust is the right consistency. I expect that I’ll be able to reduce the butter by a ¼ cup.

S'more Nut Bars, pg 118

I knew this recipe was going to be a hit. Graham crackers and chocolate? How could that go wrong? I had left over smore supplies from the last time we went camping so the husband was elated to see that I finally used to graham crackers and mini Hershey bars.

The Verdict: As predicted, they are amazing. They’re less messy when chilled but they are irresistible when at room temperature.  Since they’re so rich a cut them into tiny squares and made one plate for my work and another for my husbands. Lucky for my coworkers, my husband forgot his so they had double the treats. I strolled past the breakroom at 11 and the plates were licked clean. Instant winner.

Tips for Next Time: I didn’t see the point on chopping up larger marshmallows when they turned out to be the same exact size as mini marshmallows. Next time I’ll mix up all the chocolate, dump in the marshmallows and then pour over the crust. Then I’m going to sprinkle the peanuts on top (maybe sink some in with a spoon) because when you mix them with the chocolate mixed the saltiness is gone and I think a little bite of salt would really set this recipe over the edge.

Oatmeal Cherry Nut Cookies, pg 146

My husband loves cookies so I thought these would be a nice treat for him. 

The Verdict: I had to buy the coriander for this recipe and it turns out that I don't care for it at all. Even with the other spices in the cookies, all I could taste was coriander. My husband thinks I'm crazy and the guys at his work happily ate the entire bag but I tried my best to like them and couldn't make it through the 2nd cookie. 

Tips for Next Time: Oatmeal cookies are a dime a dozen, plenty of which are freakin delicious. Not worth monkeying around with this one to make it work.

Lemon Lime Bars, pg 119

As luck would have it, another one of my Bountiful Baskets had limes and the week prior had lemons so I had all the makings for these lemon lime bars.

The Verdict: I guess I was expecting more lemon than lime so it was quite a surprise when eating these. I have some beef with this recipe because you add the lemon and lime zest to the filling and then you strain the mixture which not surprisingly, strains out all the zest (along with any cooked egg bits). I guess the zest infuses the filling when you're cooking it on the stovetop but I still think it's a waste. 

Tips for Next Time: I don't think there will be a next time. I didn't care for the lime aspect of these, made them too acidic. And the folks of work agreed because while they'll eat just about anything, these were so strong people were cutting bars in half and even then, there were still some leftover the next day.

Black Forest Chocolate Cookie, pg 142-143

The Verdict: I had loved every cookie in the book so far so I was surprised that these didn't rock my world. They were ok, but not as chewy as I had hoped and didn't keep for very long. Within a few days in a ziplock they were near inedible. 

Tips for Next Time: Eh, pass. 

Sweet and Salty Cake, pg 67

I was disappointed with the White Out cake so I decided to do a cake that I was sure would turn out pretty spectacular, chocolate and caramel can never be wrong. I was meeting up with a friend who was visiting around valentines so I made him a box of cupcakes.

The Verdict: I guess I have a different taste in cake because I found this cake too dry and not chocolate enough. Baked, you've failed me again! Other than that, this recipe was super heavy on the caramel. Caramel sauce and carmel buttercream on top of a chocolate cake that didn't have much chocolate wasn't the ideal balance. 

Tips for Next Time: I made these into cupcakes and ended up with tons of caramel leftover. Maybe if you're layering a cake it works out but for cupcakes I had at least a full cup of caramel sauce leftover. I saved it and have gradually been using it in my coffee. Mmmmhmm. If I was to make something like this in the future I'd use my go-to chocolate cake recipe, use the caramel sauce from the book and a chocolate ganache frosting. By the way, if you're layering cupcakes, the caramel sauce is really slippery so any frosting put on top of it will slide off. I learned this the hard way.

Flourless Chocolate Cake, pg 50-51

The bakery I worked at specialized in gluten free baking and the flourless chocolate cake was their star. I've made more flourless chocolate cake than I'd care to remember but I've always been found of it so I wasn't worried about finding a hope for all the leftovers.

The Verdict: Delicious. When I pulled it out of the oven it was tall and fluffy, unlike all the cakes I've baked before. I thought it was strange but after it cooled it had reduced to an inch and change, now that's how it should go! Granted, it didn't turn out as pretty as all the other flourless chocolate cakes I've baked but it tasted about the same so I was a happy camper. 

Tips for Next Time: The bakery recipe that I'm used to had ground coffee in it. It's no secret that coffee and chocolate are the new peanut butter and jelly so next time I make this I'll probably throw a tablespoon of instant espresso in. Also, for ease of serving a crowd, next time I also plan on copying the bakery by caking this in a sheet pan, that way I can slice and dice smaller more appropriate portions without it being a huge hassle. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf, pg 43

The Verdict: This baby is dense but the crust is a nice texture contrast. It wasn't as heavy on the pumpkin or spice mixture that I'm used to but it was delicious nonetheless.

Tips for Next Time: The husband insists that this needs to be made again in a bundt cake pan.

Orange, Almond, Blueberry Muffins, pg 31

One of my bountiful basket had blueberries and oranges. Sounds like the perfect excuse to make these orange blueberry almond muffins! I didn't have any orange juice on hand but luckily the juice from 2 oranges was ample.

The Verdict: With such strong flavors the almond is completely lost. The sliced almonds added a little crunch but I don't see the point to the ground almonds. Protein? Other than that, they were super tasty. The texture was right and I liked the little blueberry bursts. Plus the orange and blue/purple looked really pretty together. If I wanted to impress with breakfast baking, these would probably make the list.

Tips for Next Time: Skip the almond bit, I don't think it adds anything and could easily be omitted, especially since people might be allergic to almonds. 

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffin, pg 32

We've been doing this program called Bountiful Baskets where you pay for a basket on Monday and pick a delivery time. Pickups are on Saturday and you get a random assortment of fruits and veggies. And you get more than your $15 worth, it actually turned out to be so much food that I split it with my sisters family. This last Saturday our counters were overflowing with fruit so I turned to my cookbook to see what I could make and it was fate because I had just gotten blueberries, oranges and bananas in my basket.


Verdict: I'm one of those few people who actually like the flavor of coffee and drink it because I think it tastes good, not for the caffeine factor (not that it hurts!) so I was disappointed when I couldn't taste the coffee in the banana muffins. They were also a little gummy but that is expected with any type of banana bread I think.

Tips for next time: Increase the coffee in the banana muffins or leave it out completely. In Utah there are ample anti coffee people so it's nice to leave it out from time to time so everyone can enjoy the muffins. For the orange blueberry. eh.. I'd make them again if I needed to use some fruit again but they didn't change my life.

Peanut Butter Crispy, pg 133

The Verdict: I knew when I realized that the rice krispies were covered in caramel that they would be too hard. Mike took them to work and his coworkers devoured them. I had a piece cut out for pictures and he said that he could take it to work and auction it off because people loved it so much.

Tips for Next Time: Aside from someone requesting them, I don’t think I’ll make these again. They were ok, but the crispiness of the bottom later wasn’t my favorite.

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie, pg 97

I’ve had a phobia of making pies so I’ve just avoided them but all the pies from this cookbook had turned out really well so I was excited to try the pecan pie. Last time I made the pie crusts I made a double batch so I already had a crust ready. The recipe is super easy, aside from having to wait a few hours for the pie crust to freeze. It’s just a mix, fill and bake. We had just come back from vacation and everyone was very impressed when I showed up the next day with a homemade pie.

The Verdict: I’m not even going to lie, I ate probably 1/3 of the pie. Usually pecan pies are so sweet and heavy but this one wasn’t terribly sweet and the chocolate was a really nice mix. It was like a delicious cookie. Since it was a Friday and my office was near empty, I took a slice or two home and delivered it to my sister where she too declared it too delicious to share.

Tips for Next Time: None. Really. Perfect as is except that I omitted the bourbon. 

Sour Lemon Scones, pg 27

When I worked at the bakery we made the pastries for some local coffee shops. I was never fond of scones but this bakery did them right. They were amazing. Because they were so good, I was making large batches of scones 2 days a week for the coffee shops. I was a little too honest to steal the recipe from the bakery when I left which I totally regret now. I was hoping that this recipe could compare.

The Verdict: Wahhhhwaaaa. Ok, that’s a little dramatic. This recipe makes your classic scone which is the equivalent of shortbread. A giant triangle of shortbread. It wasn’t as dry as most but not as moist. The flavor was also very subtle. In the recipe it calls for ginger, doesn’t say if it’s powdered or microplaned or if it’s just a giant chunk. I went for the microplane approach. The lemon in the recipe is just lemon zest so between the lemon and the ginger it had just a hint of lemonish flavor. I didn’t like the way that it was so subtle so I made a glaze with lemon juice and powdered sugar.

Tips for Next Time: I’m going to keep looking for the perfect scone recipe which might be my equivalent of a unicorn.

Red Hot Velvet Cake, pg 53

I loathe red velvet cakes. I think that red velvet cakes are just for people who want an excuse to eat frosting because I don’t think that the cake tastes like anything. But it’s in the cookbook so it has to be made! I was flipping through the book one day looking for a recipe that wouldn’t require me to go to the store and this was the first one that I came across. Actually, I didn’t have dark unsweetened powdered chocolate but for some reason I bought TONS of unsweetened chocolate chips so I melted those down and used them.

The Verdict: I’m not going to lie, the frosting is delicious, but it’s also not light and fluffy. I don’t see how it could be, it’s literally milk, sugar and butter. I didn’t really care of the flour in the frosting, I could still taste it but it was tasty enough that I could overlook it. By adding the cinnamon it made it taste like cinnamon toast crunch, and there is nothing wrong with that. I sent the cake with my husband to his work so I didn’t get a slice but from the scraps, I think it was probably pretty tasty. Bonus points, the frosting doesn’t have eggs or cream cheese so I would feel a little bit more confident with leaving it out for a longer period of time.  Minus point, there is nothing “red hot” about this cake except for maybe the color and I was kinda expecting a spicy element.

Tips for Next Time: I would maybe cut down the food coloring a little bit next time but that’s just because 2 tablespoons of coloring grosses me out. If someone made me make a red velvet in the future (which I’m betting is pretty inevitable), I would probably make this one again.

Vanilla Caramel Apples, pg 166 *fail*

We decided on a quick family gathering and even with my kitchen still in shambles, I decided to make something. Since all of my pans are packed up, it couldn't be a baked good. I had a slew of small apples so caramel apples fit the bill perfectly. Finding the sticks was the first challenge. I looked around in all the grocery stores and couldn't find anything so I finally went to Gygi. I washed all the apples and stuck the sticks in and put them in the freezer. Heating the cream and vanilla bean went well and then it was all downhill from there. 
1- When bringing the cream, sugar, butter and corn syrup to a boil; my pot overflowed. Not the first time this has happened, not a big deal. 
2- When the caramel was to temperature I took it off the heat and stirred only to find that I was mixing burnt bits from the bottom throughout the caramel. CRAP! I grabbed my strainer and did the best I could. I knew it was a gamble and luckily my strainer cleaned up well. 
3- The dipping went well and I was able to get all of them done except one before the caramel set. 
4- I had prepared all sorts of delicious toppings, crushed oreos, pecans and chocolate but the caramel had set way too fast so none of them stuck. Oh well. 
5- Wanting to make sure that the caramel wasn't a complete loss (because of the burning incident), I popped a small ball of it in my mouth and chewed down on my back molars. Correction, on the crowns that act as my back molars. When attempting to open my jaw I felt the pulling on my crowns and immediately knew that I was in trouble. I chipped away what I could with my finger and sucked away what I could without pulling my crown apart. Eventually I was able to separate my teeth with keeping all of them intact. Whew. Have I mentioned that we don't have dental insurance until October? Bullet dodged! 
6- Not wanting anyone else to get their teeth stuck together or potentially shatter some fillings and/or whatnot, I whacked a few on the counter to see how hard they really were which did not have good results. 

The Verdict: Threw them all away. A complete and total waste. 

Tips for Next Time: The caramel obviously cooked for too long which is why it was so hard/brittle and why it burned. I used a candy thermometer and took it off the heat at 245 degrees so I'm not sure what went wrong there. Problem is, I love caramel apples and they're so expensive so while I'd love to say "never again" it will probably be a "eh, maybe this time it will work?". But full disclosure, I have a giant brick of caramel in my pantry so I'll probably use that next time.

The Baked Brownie, pg 117

Years ago I went on a brownie quest and it was very Goldilocks. This one is too cakey. This one is too fudgy and finally I found one that was juuuuuust right. I was curious to see how the Baked brownie would stack up.

The Verdict: Not too bad but it was leaning towards the fudgy brownie category which I would actually prefer over the cakey option. Aside from that it was a lot of bowls, whisk this, fold into that, melt this. I’m a dump and done kind of baker so the extra dishes was a little annoying.

Tips for Next Time: I think I’ll stick with my original brownie recipe, unless I get bored and decide to create a hybrid but you know, there is such thing as too much of a good thing.

Raspberry Crumb Breakfast Bar, pg 130

I’m not a huge fan of shortbread, I just figure that there are better tasting things out there for the same calorie buster so I usually pass on shortbread. At the bakery I worked at we made a shortbread bar with preserves in the middle and while it wasn’t bad, it also wasn’t my favorite.

The Verdict: I don’t know why I doubt them, Baked shared another really food recipe. Yes, it’s tons of butter and it’s heavy but the fresh fruit and lemon zest really saves the recipe. I think these would be amazing with blackberries but I always prefer blackberry over any other type of berry.

Tips for Next Time: They don’t keep for terribly long because the fruit can make them soggy after a few days, just something to consider.

Classic Apple Pie, pg 93

I have a confession; I suck at pies. My mother is the pie master. Everyone gushes over her pies and pie crust, as they should, they’re delicious. I try my hand at pies during thanksgiving and I had yet to turn out anything that I was proud of. They were edible but nothing to write home about. So I made my peace with the fact that I can’t be good at everything and avoided pies altogether. That is until I had to tackle the pie chapter in my cookbook. I decided to bite the bullet and start out with the apple pie. I made the pie crusts over the weekend, bought some apples and promised to make pie the next day. Well, the next day turned into a week or so later, all the while the raw pie dough was mocking me whenever I opened the fridge door. Enough was enough so I committed to making the pie only to see that the bottom crust has to be frozen first. Gah. 

After finally throwing the pie together, throwing it in the oven and walking away, about a half hour later my husband yelled out that it was the most beautiful pie ever. It was far from the most beautiful pie I’ve ever seen but it was definitely the most beautiful pie to come out of my oven. 

The Verdict: I kinda hate that it took this cookbook to help me along in turning out a totally decent pie. It was delicious. The sauce that the apples cook in never thickened up (even after adding another ¼ tsp of corn starch) so I only put about ½ the sauce into the actual pie and I forgot to sugar dust the top of the pie. All in all, all good judgment calls on my end. The sauce was still runny after cutting the pie but it was the perfect syrup to mop up with the buttery pie crust. The pie crust turned out magically, I give all the credit to freezing the bottom crust first. It wasn’t soggy at all! 

Tips for Next Time: Keep it easy on the sauce, add a little bit more apples and change nothing else. 

..oh.. you're still here?

Recently a friend posted on facebook asking about this blog (Hi Sarah!). I knew that I had been neglecting it but didn't realize that it's been so long! You see, we have another blog, the Mid Century Beehive where we sell furniture so that blog actually brings in money (to support our need to constantly find a buy more furniture) so it's defiantly the highest priority. Not to say that renovating and selling furniture has taken priority over baking because I'm still baking every chance I get.

Since I'm more than halfway through the year I thought that Sarah's reminder came at a good time and did an audit of where I stand in my little project of baking a cookbook front to back. I thought I was near halfway, turns out that I'm only about a third. 19 down, 42 to go. Yikes. Even more pitiful is that I've done 19 recipes and have only done 4 posts! Pitiful.

On top of the furniture blog/micro business, we've been doing house renovations. Most recently we had our kitchen tile taken out and replaced so as I type this I'm staring at my oven, sitting in the living room. It's being moved back into the kitchen tomorrow so hopefully once I clean everything (I have a literal layer of tile dust on all my dishes) I can start cranking out some baked goods. In the mean time I need to hunt down pictures and rough drafts of posts for the 15 missing recipes I've completed.

Millionaire's Shortbread pg 124

I've seen this recipe floating around the internet for some time now and people seem to love it so I thought that it would be a good choice. I think I tried to make it before with dismal results but it may have been the same concept but a different recipe.

The Verdict: It takes time and patience but with some tweaking, it could be amazing. Someone compared it to a twix which blew my mind because I didn't make the connection myself. Shortbread, caramel, chocolate .. twix. The dark chocolate ganache was a nice choice, not too sweet but a good balance for the bar. I did think that the bar was missing a salty element though. Maybe some salt would be a nice addition to the shortbread.

Tips for Next Time: The shortbread was fine on it's own, a little thick but a good solid surface for the tastiness piled on top. The caramel was HORRIBLE to make. The recipe suggests two methods, 12 minutes in the microwave or 1 1/2 hours on the stove top. Obvious decision, I went for the microwave. It says to whisk every 2 minutes but between minute 8-10 when I walked away, it erupted and I was left with a molten sugar mess in my microwave. I transferred what I had left into a pot and tried to finish it on the stovetop but not even 2 minutes into it I was whisking and with each movement I was dragging burnt bits through the caramel. Thinking quick on my feet I grabbed a strainer and quickly strained out as much as the brunt crap as I could (hence the dark specs). Was anyone the wiser? No, but making that fetching caramel was stressful! Next time I'm finding my own caramel recipe.

chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies pg 139-140

I had flagged the cookies as my next recipes to try and made sure that I had all the ingredients but I made the fatal error of not reading through the instructions first. Turns out that the chocolate chip cookies needed to rest for 6 hours and the peanut butter for 3. I like to bake because the reward is also instantaneous. It takes me 2o minutes to mix something up, I get it in the oven and then I get a tasty treat when it's done baking. Ta da! I don't want to wait 6 hours for cookies! But alas, I'm following the instructions exactly as written so I mixed up all the dough on Saturday night and baked them all on Sunday. Let me just tell you that there is nothing worse than scooping cold cookie dough except for scooping cold cookie dough with giant chunks of cold chocolate. I decided that I hated these cookies before I even had the chance to taste one.

The Verdict: With the waiting period and the cold dough scooping - I really really wanted to hate these cookies but they cannot be denied. They are tasty. Super tasty even. Even though I want to bake the recipes exactly as written, I couldn't help myself and in the chocolate chip cookies I added 2 cups of semi sweet and 3/4 cup of milk chocolate, I just love the mixture of two chocolates in one bite. The chocolate chip aren't the prettiest and there are 2 sticks of butter in each recipe but dammit, I loved these cookies.

Tips for Next Time: They're pretty solid cookies as-is. Aside from my mixing of 2 kinds of chocolate chips, I wouldn't change a thing. I had enough foresight to add some milk chocolate to half the peanut butter cookies so my husband couldn't eat the entire batch, he was annoyed but his coworkers seemed to enjoy the little addition.

whiteout cake pg 55

My husband doesn't eat chocolate and while we were hanging around on Christmas break I wanted to make something that he could enjoy too so for my very first Baked recipe, I picked the Whiteout Cake. I didn't realize how much batter it makes so I ended up with a 4", 6" and 10" cake. When my husband saw them on top of the oven cooling he asked if I was making a wedding cake. Note to self; it's totally ok to scale down.

Verdict: Not my favorite. I made it exactly to recipe for some friends we were having over for boardgames and our friends loved it but I thought that it was waaaay too sweet. I'm over critical but I while the cake was light and airy, it was also dry. And the white chocolate frosting was like whipped pastry cream, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The frosting is made with flour and boy could I tell in the final product. Plus, you cook the flour, sugar, cream and milk before adding all the butter and whatnot and even with constant stirring, I ended up with bits of cooked flour, very unsightly. Also, the next day the leftover frosting I had in the fridge had separated which I was able to remedy but it was annoying nonetheless.

Tips for next time: Pass it up all together. There are better options out there.

this little project of mine

I'm feeling slightly guilty because the husband is in the basement doing a horribly dirty task that I can't help on so I figured that my time would be best spent on a task that I haven't been terribly excited about either - updating! It's not that I don't enjoy you, dear blog, it just seems to take so much time to write posts and upload photos when I could be.. you know..napping. But! I have an exciting new project.

Since I'm not baking professionally anymore, I had this crazy idea that in order to keep my skills up to par that it could be fun to bake an entire cookbook, front to back. Fun! I shared this idea with my family for a possible christmas gift idea and ..well.. I got 3 cookbooks. I received both Baked books and Flour. As I carefully looked through each recipe I was more inspired and excited about Flour but it is a lot more technical and requires some hard to find ingredients so I decided that for my first cover to cover experience to go the simpler route, Baked. To you know, get my feet wet and to get an idea of what I've committed myself to.

I've also committed to being better about taking decent photos since I've gotten lazy lately with only taking phone photos. And so, this tiny blog of mine will be chronicling my crazy adventure through Baked. I'm already apologizing to my coworkers for ruining their New Years resolutions so quickly.