Marshmallow Fondant

So I was gifted this really awesome "Zombie Cupcakes" book as a gift and while flipping through the pages I saw a "Biohazard" cupcake that looked absolutely perfect for my tech-industrial sister. The book, of course, made it look so easy.

The cupcakes were straightforward, a key lime mix that actually was more like a muffin consistency (very heavy) in the end rather than a cupcake. But this was my first foray ever into fondant and I was intimidated, to say the least.

I had talked to a friend who once dated a baker, and he suggested I use marshmallow fondant. So after a search I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and decided to give it a try.

Making the fondant was a challenge, not because it's actually tricky but because it is a sticky, sticky mess. I mean, let's think about it. Hundreds of melted marshmallow with nothing between you and them except for some powered sugar? It's a bit insane. But trust me from my lesson learned: When you feel like giving up just add and knead, add and knead. It will get there eventually.

So after all the work I got the color I wanted and some pretty tasty (surprisingly) fondant. I was patting myself on the back for this and thinking that I am a magnificent baker.

Then it came time to cut and mold.

Let me say this now and say this clearly. Do not do this without the right tools. Secondly, toothpicks and butter knives are not the right tools.

You can see my failed attempts at the biohazard sign here. I have since this time ordered Wilton's "fondant student kit" and will be going through the motions. Then we shall see who rules!

Til then, just know I found a good recipe and still have a lot to learn.

Super Easy Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This was by far one of the easiest creations I've ever made. You really just have to love the tasty simplicity of anything that goes into a bundt pan. Using a recipe that I found from MyBakingAddiction.com, I prepared this cake for my parents' summer picnic.

Creamy batter just all mixed together.
 It doesn't get easier!

There really wasn't a tough thing about this recipe, and a little truly goes a long way. One thing is for sure, they call it pound cake for a reason. I served this with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, though I think in the future I'd try to even make it lighter. I've been reading a lot about the mechanics of baking in my Alton Brown book lately too and this would probably be a great candidate for trying cake flour rather than all-purpose. Something just needs to lighten this puppy up!

That all being said, this was actually the first cake I've gotten a paid request to duplicate. So heavy to me, I must have been doing something right. Try it for yourself and hope you enjoy!

Homemade Lasagne Noodles

Once a long time ago I had successfully made lasagne noodles with help. I think I had done it quite a few times, and now that I'm trying on this "baking" hat I thought I would go for it again.

Unfortunately, it didn't work quite as I had hoped.

I started with the traditional well and mixed all of my ingredients together. I got my tight little ball in plastic wrap and I was feeling really good about myself. Rolled it out, and the noodles looked great.

But when it came time to eat, they were doughy. I just don't know a better way to explain it. They just tasted like they weren't quite cooked at all.

I'm not sure what I did wrong and I can't find any assistance on the Web. My best guess is one of two things:

1. I put too much sauce in my lasagne (I do like a lot of sauce) and this over-saturated the noodles.

2. I needed to boil/cook the noodles before I placed them into the casserole. I forget that not all noodles are now bake-ready like the spiffy new box kind.

 So I think I'll try again soon but with some cooked noodles before I bake. If anyone knows if this step is necessary, I'd appreciate the feedback. I baked for 30-45 minutes at 350 or so. So I'm not sure that they were underbaked, but I suppose that was a possibility too.

Crossing the Threshold

So I have begun trying to actually educate myself about this new hobby of mine, and to do this I picked up a few theory or almost textbook-like tomes. The one I have started with is by Alton Brown, that mad scientist of cooking that many of us love.  Thus far, I have only gotten so far as the introduction, but that has already been enough to get me thinking a bit differently about baking.

One of the biggest suggestions that Alton makes is to begin weighing your ingredients rather than measuring them. Particularly in baking, where formulas are so balanced and important, you need to get the proper ratio. And when you can delicately scoop or tightly pack a cup or flour to make your loaf of bread, if we all were to use digital scales to measure the same 5 ounces we know we'd be making the exact same pastry.

I see his point. My question is: Am I ready to commit?

This is a big step from casual baking to all-out geekery I think. From art to science perhaps? Maybe not, since in my own little world I sort of view all baking and cooking as art. But it's well beyond "a dash of this, a pinch of that."

$30 will change my baking world. Now to decide whether or not to do it.

Uberbrownies!

So this weekend I finally baked something perfect. These yummy, fudgey, delightfully delicious brownies that everyone who taste-tested seemed to love.

Of course, this means it was the one time that I didn't take photos.

Suffice it to say, because I know these work I'm going to take the base recipe and remake, revise, experiment. And in the future I will be certain to take photos. In the meantime, here's the recipe, adapted from something I saw on mykitchenaddiction.com:

Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tbl vanilla extract
1 tsp (or so - I never measure this) cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add the sugar. Then cook it a bit until it basically becomes a big pasty yummy glob.

Remove from heat and add cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the eggs and stir until creamy.

Mix in flour and add the chocolate chips, then pour the whole gooey delicious pile into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 325 for about 30 minutes

Chocolate Chip Scones

One of my favorite pastries is the scone. A little sweet, a bit dry, and totally tasty and delicious. Well I had some leftover chocolate chips lying around and I was tired of making the same old cookies so even though my favorite scone is of the blueberry variety (so traditional, I know), I decided to try an adaptation of this scone recipe I found on allrecipes.com.

Now if you've ever used Allrecipes you know the importance of reading the comments before baking. I chose this particular version because of it's high ratings and positive comments, plus I liked the touch of orange juice that was listed in the ingredients. I also altered the butter and liquid content a bit based on the comments. The dough, as you can see from the pictures, looked to me like it was perfect.

The finished scones looked pretty good, and I got some great feedback from my taste testers. However for me, the final scone was too "biscuit" tasting. When I think of scones, I typically think of something smoother in texture. I don't know if it's correct, but I like the Starbucks scone. These were more crumbly inside, which could possibly be altered just by using more liquid. More specifically, I'll probably just try a different recipe next go-round and see how they compare. But these weren't a bad experiment, and I'm happy to report all were eaten and enjoyed.

This did add a note to myself: buy coarse sugar! So many "hearty" baked items that have the faint sweet flavor need those yummilicious crystals on top.

Bad Baking Blogger

So the truth is that I am doing a good job of practicing my baking, but a horrible job of blogging. I have about five projects that I have worked on that I need to update everyone about, including Chocolate Chip Scones, Homemade Lasagne Noodles, Guiness Cupcakes, and more. I am going to make a concerted effort to get to these soon, and to get this blog back on track!

Also, I have a few ideas I want to try to make shortly, including a cannoli pie, a strawberry tiramisu, my dad's homemade pizza dough, and a few others. I also want to work quite a bit with muffins, and see if I can come up with some unique ideas that are a strange hit. For instance, I was thinking bacon muffins with chocolate drizzle.

Finally, I have two new baking books that I received for my birthday that I am going to begin studying. I am hoping these can give me the tools I need to make my own unique creations, instead of trying to copy online recipes all the time (there will always be a place for that of course!).

Hopefully, you will all get to see the results of this soon. Ideally, I will bake at least twice a month, with a greater aim of once every weekend.

So those are the plans. I hope to be a better baker - and a better blogger - in the very near future.