Baking Adventure #22

How many of you have heard of Lyme Disease? What do you know about it? Most people only know one thing: That it originates from ticks.

Some wonderful people have been banding together in support of Lyme Disease Awareness and have declared the month of May: Lyme Disease Awareness Month. In honor of this month, they have decided to paint May "Lyme" green and put together some amazing PSA ads. (You can view them here: http://www.youtube.com/user/lymenaide) If caught early enough, Lyme Disease can be treated pretty easily with antibiotics. However, sometimes the symptoms don't show up for months or even years and can ultimately lead to serious, long-term health problems.

Now, you're probably asking yourself why I have decided to partake in this cause. Aside from the fact that I love seeing younger generations banding together and making a difference, this particular cause hits close to home. An old friend of mine's sister has been battling Lyme disease for 3 years now. She is an absolutely beautiful girl and had the world at her fingertips when this horrible disease took its toll on her body and turned her world upside down. She is on the road to recovery but the battle hasn't been easy. (You can read more about Teri on John Raser's Causes page of his website: http://gospeedraser.com/causes/ and his blog: http://gospeedraser.com/golf-blog/)

I have never personally met Teri but I went to grade school with John, and through the world of the internet, we have been able to stay in touch. If Teri is anything like her brother, then this girl is beyond amazing, and my hope is for this blog post to raise awareness of the horrible disease that has affected their entire family.

So without further ado, it's time to paint the month of May Lyme with a scrumptious little baking adventure...

Key LYME Pie

I got this recipe from a website shown to me by a client. ThePioneerWoman.com has some incredible looking recipes and the Key Lime Pie was the first one I decided to make. The ingredients were minimal:

Then came time for some crust making. The recipe on the website calls for a food processor to turn the graham crackers into crumbs... well, I don't have one of these, so I crushed them the old fashioned way with a plastic ziplock bag and a heavy wooden mallet.

After the graham crackers were crumbled, it was time to add the sugar and melted butter.

Press into the pie pan (ungreased).

And bake in the oven for about 5 minutes and let cool.

While the graham cracker pie crust was cooling, it was time to make the filling! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to find REAL key limes at the grocery! For never having even seen them in person nor knowing how much they would cost, I was a little worrisome. HOWEVER, my favorite grocery came to my rescue and they were only about $2-3 for an entire bag!

[Please notice the Key Limes are on the right and regular limes on the left.]

When first attempting to squeeze the juice out of the key limes (yes, squeeze by hand b/c I do not have a juicer... I seriously doubt these little boogers could fit in a juicer anyway), I only got three, maybe four, drops out of it...

The recipe called for 1/2 cup of key lime juice so that certainly wasn't going to work! After putting my thinking cap on [Elementary school throwback], I remembered the PERFECT kitchen utensil for crushing small things with little holes in it: my garlic crusher!!! It was a perfect fit and thus allowed for mega juicing of the key limes!

TIP: This recipe also calls for a large amount of key lime zest. Make sure you zest the limes prior to juicing.

Once the 1/2 cup of juice was obtained, I blended the 2 egg yolks, lime juice, lime zest, and can of sweetened condensed milk with my hand mixer.

Then poured into the prepared Graham Cracker crust.

And baked in the oven for approximately 20 minutes. [The recipe says 15, but mine needed some extra time in the oven to make sure it was no longer "jiggly" in the middle.]

Once the Key Lyme Pie is baked, allow it to cool on the counter for about an hour and then pop in the fridge. I chose to let it chill in the fridge overnight because I love icebox pies EXTRA chilly, but to each their own.

Once cool enough, enjoy the Key Lime-y goodness. I guarantee you won't be able to just have one slice. There's something about the combination with the super tart key limes and the sweet graham cracker crust that just makes it irresistible.

***If you are interested in reading more about Lyme Disease or simply donating to or supporting the cause, below are two websites dedicated to the fight against Lyme Disease:

• Turn the Corner Foundation: http://www.turnthecorner.org/
• Lymenaide: http://lymenaide.wordpress.com/

In addition to spreading awareness with this simple blog post, I will donate $0.50 for each person who comments on this blog post during the month of May to help the cause (up to $100). So please comment and feel free to donate or at the very least repost the above links to your friends and family! Together, we can help those affected by Lyme Disease.***

UPDATE: So this pie was SO good and such a hit that I decided to make another one for Cinco de Mayo. I changed the crust recipe slightly: used 16 graham crackers instead of 18. There was no overflowing mess of crumbs this time when pressing into the pie pan and it was equally as thick and delicious!

Thank you to everyone who has commented and reposted the link to this blog so far. The comments and stories are beyond humbling! Keep them coming! Together we can make a difference... EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS!

Baking Adventure #21

The weather in Atlanta lately has been amazing. Picture clear blue skies, a slight breeze, 78 degrees and sunshine from dawn until dusk. After all of the rain we had from fall through early spring, the nice weather has been a true blessing.

With that being said, we had a pretty gnarly storm come through and wash away all of the pollen late Friday night through late Saturday night. As a result, Saturday brought a day of errands and Lifetime movies on the couch (every girl loves to indulge in these from time to time, don't judge me). Since there was no avoiding the 100% chance of rain forecasted, an Avatar movie night was planned for the evening. Neither my friend nor I had seen it before and we decided to get creative and have a blue-theme to our snacks. He supplied blue corn tortilla chips and salsa, and I whipped up something yummy... *big surprise* Any excuse I can get to bake and be creative, I'll gladly take! What baked good went with the blue theme, you ask?

AVATAR BLUE(BERRY) CUPCAKES

Of course! I used a simple white cake mix purchased back in February at an Amish market in Ohio as my base. [This was cheating a little but I was baking at midnight Friday night, mind you, and felt like experimenting with additions and not the basic mix itself. Next time, the white cake will be derived from scratch as well.]

As part of my experimenting, I added fresh blueberries, a touch of lemon juice, and blue food coloring (to half of the cupcakes). Tip for folding in fresh blueberries: toss them in a little bit of flour to keep them from settling on the bottom of the batter prior to baking.

Once the batter was to my liking, I spooned it into the cupcake liners.

Then baked at 375 for approximately 15 minutes (or until the tops were firm) then let cool completely.

While the cupcakes were cooling, the experiment continued... Cream cheese frosting is my ABSOLUTE favorite of all the frostings, but I wanted this to also involve blueberries. So I made the frosting according to my usual recipe (cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar) then added the blueberries I had crushed... This sounds good in theory, no? Unfortunately, the resulting frosting was a bit runny (SERIOUSLY, runny frosting is becoming my arch-nemesis when it comes to baking!)... so I decided to wrap up the cupcakes and stick the frosting in the freezer overnight to firm up... Not the best idea. The next day (once the frosting thawed) it was back to its original consistency and just altogether not worthy of the "Pint-Size Baker" stamp of approval.

Thus, after a few choice words with myself [you know you talk to yourself too], I scraped the frosting off of the few cupcakes already frosted, dumped the entire bowl into the sink, and started over from scratch. Let me back up a little... after sticking the frosting in the freezer to set over night, I stayed up until 2am researching how to make frosting thicker. There aren't many tips for thickening cream cheese frosting; however, I did find a minor tweak suggestion and went to town on the new frosting and what do you know... IT WORKED! This batch ended up being my best yet in terms of consistency! Check out the final product below:

[Trying to improve my presentation skills... What do you think?]

And that's it for now folks! Baking Adventure #23 has already been determined but I need a #22 for next week. Please leave your recommendations in the comments section! I'll select one and bake it next week for you.

Baking Adventure #18

Hey hey hey! Sorry to have missed you last week, but the weekend was too busy for baking. SAD... I know. :-( HOWEVER, this weekend more than made up for it. This week's baking adventure came about as a request from my one and only repeat customer (thus far...). He has purchased Snickerdoodles in the past and has more faith in my baking than I do! This week's baking adventure is...

BANANA BREAD (or 'Nanner Bread as I like to call it!)

My friend is a huge fan of this bread, but he prefers it without nuts... [I don't discriminate personally]. After his request was placed, I set out to find the PERFECT recipe so as not to disappoint a paying customer. Upon referencing my usual sources, I stumbled upon this recipe from a bakery in Boston called Flour Bakery + Cafe. Bobby Flay did a THROWDOWN with the owner of this bakery for her Sticky Buns, so after reading all of the praises on the reviews tab for the recipe, I knew I had found THE perfect banana bread. [Although, if you know me well enough by now, you know I have to tweak it just a smidge to give it that extra Pint-Size Baker lovin']

First things first was PREP.

[Additional "tweak" ingredients not pictured.]

Then came separating the dry and wet ingredients...

This recipe was beyond simple to make in terms of steps. The most difficult step was maintaining the endurance to whisk the eggs and sugar together for 10 minutes straight by hand (sure, I could've pulled out the hand-mixer, but what's the fun in that???).

Once the eggs and sugar were creamed together, it was time to add the smashed bananas, sour cream (couldn't find creme fraiche at my standard grocery), and vanilla extract. [Oh, I forgot to mention! My paying customer requested TWO loaves, so everything was doubled to compensate.]

Then it was time to blend the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients.

Pour the batter into the wax paper-lined loaf pans.

And bake in the oven for about an hour at 350 degrees.

Once the Banana Bread loaves were cool, I delivered them to the customer and he was beyond ecstatic! [If you're his friend on facebook, you will see him bragging about having the "goods" when no one else does. haha!]

The End.

Or was it? Yea, not so much... My paying customer bragged SO much about the bread that my parents were giving me the stink-eye when they realized they didn't have any waiting at home for them. And so it was back to the grocery to pick up some more 'nanners and make them their own loaf as well! See? I told you, this weekend MORE than made up for the lack of baking last weekend. 3 loaves of Banana Bread + Lunch cooked for the week = a sleepy Pint-Size Baker.

Thanks to Food Network for posting the AMAZING recipe from Flour Bakery + Cafe on their website and thanks to Flour for sharing it! If I ever get to visit Boston like I'm hoping, I fully plan on going there and trying the real thing for myself!

Until next time peeps, have a wonderful week! This one is going to be a busy one with Easter on Sunday but have no fear, baking will ensue and it's sure not to disappoint!

Baking Adventure #17

Luck #17??? It is if it's March 17th... St. Patrick's Day!

This week's baking adventure is purely inspired by this wonderful little holiday. Ever since I was little [insert pint-sized joke here], I have been excited when March 17th comes around. From the shamrocks to rainbows and leprechauns [Did anyone else make leprechaun traps out of shoe boxes???] to green-colored everything, it's just a super-fun holiday all-around. Now that I'm adult, the holiday has some additional perks in the form of alcoholic beverages. With that being said, time to announce this week's baking adventure...

IRISH CUPCAKES

(Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting)

Due to the awesomeness that is this recipe and the holiday it's paired with, I decided that it would be imperative to document the baking via video. It's the best way to soak in the joy this holiday brings to me (and hopefully you!). Please see below for parts 1 and 2 of the Irish Cupcakes baking adventure. [Should you choose to forgo the videos, keep scrolling. There is a shortened regular blog-post for your viewing pleasure!]

First things first, PREP! [Can you spot the "adult" additions to the ingredients list? ;-) ]

Next it was time to combine the wet and dry ingredients in their respective bowls. This is where a couple of slight problems occurred... SOMEONE (me) forgot to add the 2 cups of sugar until after the dry ingredients were whisked together AND she forgot to melt the butter before combining with the beer and had to backtrack. Thank goodness, these mistakes were caught early on and didn't impact the outcome of the chocolate stout cupcakes!

After the imperfections were repaired, the wet and dry ingredients were combined 1/3 at a time to make the cupcake batter. Make sure you're adding the dry into the wet and NOT vice-versa when combining the two.

Once the batter is combined, scoop the batter with an ice cream scooper into the prepared, lined muffin pan. Now, if you're like me and don't have an ice cream scooper on hand, feel free to use the Tablespoon measuring utensil. [See above] It works almost as well!

The cupcakes baked for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. HINT: Make sure when baking cupcakes, you give them ample time to cool! Otherwise, you will have a big melty mess when trying to frost them. While the cupcakes are cooling is the perfect time to prepare the frosting! The Food Network recipe for the Chocolate Stout Cupcakes called for a variation on Cream Cheese Frosting, but nothing out of the norm... so as I usually like to do, I made a few tweaks to give it some extra Irish/St. Patrick's Day flare!

I reduced the heavy cream down to 1/2 c and added 3 tbsp of Bailey's Irish Cream to the mix. ALSO, I went ahead and added a tablespoon of green food coloring. You just can't have St. Patrick's Day without green food coloring in everything! Below is the final product!

My little Leprechaun friend had to join in on the baking and bring some luck along the way. However, I will tell you... I think he fell asleep on the job because the frosting consistency wasn't my best. It was way too runny, even after setting overnight in the fridge. Next time, I will only use 1/4 c of heavy cream OR just make my standard cream cheese frosting recipe with cream cheese and butter.

Regardless, the cupcakes turned out SUPER moist and "magically delicious"! Thanks so much for tuning in to this week's baking adventure. Hope you have a great St. Patrick's Day and before I go, here's a little Irish Blessing just for you...

Until next time!

Pint-Size Baker

Baking Adventure #16

Standard weekly baking adventure aside, this week has been quite the adventure in and of itself! It has been filled with impromptu chocolate chip cookie baking in a foreign kitchen (aka not my own), randomly winning tickets to a country music concert and attending said concert 24 hrs later(Jimmie Jam 2010 featuring Luke Bryan), and seeing myself on the news!!!

Remember back in January when I said I was going after a dream? Well, I went to a casting call for a new Gordon Ramsey cooking show called MasterChef, where they take amateur cooks and turn them into professional chefs. I didn't get a call back (as you can see since I'm still here writing ya'll) but it was a fun experience nonetheless! Check out the video below at the 1 min 20 sec mark plus about 5-10 seconds:

This week's baking adventure came from a recipe my mom found. She and my dad like to go up to north Georgia and visit with my godparents in the mountains from time to time. My mom gets the task of providing breakfast and horsderves when they go, but she's not much of a breakfast person, so when she came across this recipe, she asked me to try and make it on a trial run for the family first to see how it would turn out. For anyone who likes waffles and muffins, this is a must-try!

Waffle Muffins with Maple Sugar Glaze

[Let me know if you want the recipe and I'll send it to ya!]

First on the agenda was to gather the ingredients at the grocery store. There were a few things on the ingredients list that we didn't have in the house: malt powder, maple syrup (shocker, I know!... Don't judge us), and turbinado sugar. [What's turbinado sugar, you ask? WELL, have you heard of/seen "sugar in the raw"?... They're the exact same thing! Turbinado is just a fancy schmancy name for it!] Anyways, so apparently malt powder isn't a common ingredient people purchase anymore; it took me 30 minutes, 3 store workers, and 2 managers searching through Kroger to discover that they did not carry the stuff. Then I tried Target to no avail... BUT third time's the charm right?! RIGHT! Publix was my final stop before I decided to give up the search and not only did they have it but they had a couple different brand options as well! WOOHOO! Waffle Muffin-baking was back in business.

Back at the house, it was time for a little PREP action! All of the ingredients were placed on the counter and the eggs were separated. [Reference Baking Adventure #14 for tips on separating eggs]

This recipe was VERY simple to make. First, you combine the dry ingredients and sift/whisk together until blended. Then, melt the butter and....

BEEP BEEP BEEP

We interrupt this baking blog for a little Public Service Announcement... Do NOT, and I repeat do NOT place butter uncovered in the microwave while attempting to melt. You will have a geyser-like explosion and thus, a mess to cleanup. Please reference the below photo for evidence.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled baking adventure.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Man, don't you hate it when that happens??? Those PSA people sure like to interrupt whenever they darn-well please. Anyways, where was I? Oh yea!...

Next up is to combine the wet ingredients together once the butter has time to cool a little. Remember, you don't want to curdle the eggs yolks, and if the butter is too hot, you'll have to start over. Once the wet and dry ingredients are in their respective bowls, it's time to combine the two just until incorporated. No need to over-mix or make smooth!

Set the batter bowl aside, and using a hand-mixer, beat the egg whites until medium peaks form.

Then, gently fold the egg whites into the waffle muffin batter until white streaks are all that you can see.

Next is time to fill the muffin cups! The recipe calls for mini-muffin pans and to grease the cups, BUT being the little rebel I am [insert snarky laughs here], I decided to use regular-sized muffin pans AND use muffin liners. Little tip: I've found that the liners help keep them fresh and moist longer!

After the muffin pans are filled with the batter, it's time to bake! The muffins baked for about 20 minutes and then were removed and glazed with the maple syrup and turbinado (raw) sugar.

Then they were popped back in the over for another 3-4 minutes until the glaze had time to set... and here you have the finished product!

Like I said, these Waffle Muffins were BEYOND simple to make. The most difficult part was locating Malt Powder at the grocery store....

"WAIT! Pint-Size Baker... you didn't tell us the most important part!" Oops, sorry. I'm guessing you're wanting to know how they tasted??? They were extremely moist, not overly sweet, and super delicious served warm with a little butter and extra maple syrup poured over top! Not the healthiest, but who cares? It's the weekend! :-)

That's it for this week's installment of the Pint-Size Baker's baking adventures! Hope you all had a great one!!! Until next time... muah!

Baking Adventure #15

Happy [insert day you're visiting this blog post here]!!!

This weekend was a great one!!! It included celebrating my sister's birthday, some errand running, a little laundry (quite exhilarating), meeting up with a [relatively] new friend and...

wait for it...

wait for it...

BAKING!!!... WOOHOO! Didn't guess that was coming, did you?

This week's baking adventure came as a result of the request of multiple people over the last few weeks. However, the timing came about, as one of the requesters (my sister) has a birthday coming up and was craving something sweet [This NEVER happens]. Which leads us to this week's baking adventure...

GOOEY FUDGE BROWNIES

This week I decided to do something a little different and make a non-live, non-Ustream video so that I could take a stab my very FIRST [emphasizing this for a reason b/c if it's terrible, we can chalk it up to lack of experience] self-taught video editing. Please check out all 9 minutes and 59 seconds of Pint-Size baking glory and let me know what you think!

Alright, I know I promised to post the recipe here, but since I haven't quite gotten it perfected yet, it wouldn't be right to post it just yet. BUT I promise to post it in the near future! Just have to make a couple of alterations and adjust the cook time and we should be good to go!

In the meantime, here's a picture of the brownies 48 hrs after they were made...

[Or what was left of them anyway. Hehe]

Thanks again for watching!!! Until next time... Pint-Size Baker OUT!

I Scream, You Scream, we all scream for Live Stream!

Happy Saturday!

In case you missed it, today was the second installment of the Pint-Size Baker streaming live!! [Insert applause and cheers here]

Most of you were likely out enjoying your wonderful Saturday afternoon (I don't blame you!), which is why I have posted below the video from earlier! On the menu today was Red Velvet Cupcakes (reference Baking Adventure #10) and they turned out way too delicious for my own good! Happy viewing and as always, please leave questions and comments! Hope to see you next time!

And the final product!!!...

Baking Adventure #14

What a co-inky-dink!... this is baking adventure #14 and today is the 14th day of February! I promise that was not planned at all!

This week's baking adventure held true to the definition of "adventure". I had to cross the Atlantic Ocean for this one... A friend of mine was raised in Germany and has been craving a particular cake for quite some time now. He requested it back in the fall but it never actually happened for one reason or another. However, this week the craving finally became unbearable and he not only put in a "real" request but he also dropped by the CA$H for me to make it... making him my 3rd paying customer!!! YAHOO!!! Movin' on up!

Anyways, let's get down to it! This week's baking adventure is...

BIENENSTICH CAKE (Bee Sting Cake) <---- Please don't ask me how to pronounce it.

Luckily, since my friend requested this cake in the fall, I had already done a good bit of legwork trying to find the right recipe that held true to the German tradition while also being translated into English baking terms properly... this was a feat in itself! [Gotta love the metric system we Americans use. Nothing like being difficult.]

I searched long and hard across the internet and even consulted a former Project Manager from a previous job of mine, who was also from Germany. His recipe was half German and half English. I about went cross-eyed trying to figure it out... Finally, a few days ago I settled on this recipe for BIENENSTICH (Bee Sting Cake). It made the most sense and even the few steps left out I could figure out on my own.

Once I went to one of my favorite stores on earth, the grocery, it was time to PREP and then being baking.

This recipe involves three parts. The first of which is making the actual cake. This, my friends, was the easy part! You know, your usual separation of the dry and wet ingredients and then combine to make the batter.

The batter was a LOT thicker than I'm used to for typical cakes and only filled up about 2/3 of one round cake pan, so it made me quite nervous to bake. The recipe called for 3 tbsp of baking powder which meant that it was going to rise significantly... and rise it did! (Reference photo a little further down for this action!)

Before baking, the recipe called for making part two of the Bienenstich. Part two involved almonds (I used sliced instead of slivered. Makes for a prettier presentation.), sugar, cream, and butter. Once all of those ingredients were melted together, you're "supposed" to spread it on the top. However, I don't have a spring-form pan and had to improvise by placing the almond sugary goodness on the bottom of the pan and then the batter on top.

[If you look closely, you can kind of see the almond sugary goodness along the sides.]

[The cake literally looks like it was stung by a bee and then swelled up.]

While the cake baked and then cooled, it was time to venture into part three of the Bienenstich. This was by far the most cumbersome and difficult thing I've made so far in all of my baking adventures.

First, I had to separate the egg whites and egg yolks (not so difficult). I like to use the shell to help divide them. In order to do this, you crack the egg in half and open it over a bowl while holding the yolk in its shell. Then, you pour the yolk into the other shell you're holding back and forth until all of the egg white is in one bowl. Once done, put the left egg yolk in another bowl. [See below]

The next part of the recipe called for scalding milk (I used a microwave to do this! It took about 3 stints of 45 seconds each in the microwave to get it "scalding" hot. Not sure what scalding means? If you touch it with your finger and feel like your skin is going to burn off if you hold it in any longer than a split second, then that's scalding hot. REAL technical, I know. hehe)

After pouring the scalding hot milk into the egg yolk, sugar, and corn starch mixture while stirring constantly (READ: and getting milk everywhere b/c the mug holding the milk decided to have it pour down the side. NOT COOL), it was time for the double-boiler! What's a double-boiler you ask? Funny thing is I've never seen nor used a real one BUT! I do know how to make a makeshift one using a glass bowl and a pot of boiling water. [See below]

This next part was a PITA. (Want to know what that means? Feel free to comment and ask. It's an Ashley-ism is all I'm saying.) You have to stir constantly the egg yolk mixture while it sits over the double-boiler being careful not to let it boil until it thickens and becomes almost like a thick pudding. This definitely took about 15-20 minutes of stirring and then letting it sit on its own for a minute and then stirring profusely again.

EVENTUALLY, (if your hand doesn't fall off) you will get a texture and pudding like consistency as seen below.

After the thick almond cream is done. Remove from double-boiler (the recipe does not say to do this). Then, whisk the egg whites (sitting off to the side from the step above) until stiff peaks form. This will take about 5 minutes or so of beating on HIGH and a pinch of salt.

Next it was time to FOLD in the egg whites with the almond cream... I don't have a spatula so I used a plastic spoon. Make sure you don't over mix or else your stiff peaks will fall, and the final whipped almond cream won't be as stiff as it needs to (I did this and had cream EVERYWHERE when layering the cake).

After the cake cools and the almond whipped cream has time to set in the fridge, it's GO time! Cut the cake in half and then layer the cream in between and place the almond encrusted top back on... and you have a nice yummy BIENENSTICH Cake (Bee Sting Cake).

Delivery of this cake was a bit nerve-racking (insert: A LOT nerve-racking) as not only was it to be eaten by one TRUE German, but it turned out there were two additional ones awaiting the Bienenstich's arrival. They had me sit while they tasted it and the only negative feedback was that it needed "more cream"... aka "Ashley let the whipped cream set longer in the fridge or it all will come oozing out when layering on the cake".

That's it for this adventure! My hands are officially red and sore from all the egg whisking and stirring but it was more than worth it. That daggon' Bee had nothing on the Pint-Size Baker!

Hope ya'll have a very happy Valentine's Day whether you're spending it with a significant other or close friends and family! XOXO

Oh!!! Before I forget...

P.S. I made some of my "Sweet Ashley's (more addicting than crack) Choco Chip Cookies" for a Valentine's Day gift to my family. Too bad we can't eat with our eyes huh???