Puddin' Pie

I know a secret. I know EmW’s weakness. Personally, my list of weaknesses in the dessert department seems endless.

Peanut butter chocolate cake? I’ll be reasonable, how about I have just one slice now and then save another for after dinner? Every night till it’s gone? That seems like a good idea.
Dark chocolate meringues? Well now, those have tons of egg whites for protein and flecks of dark chocolate for fiber! They’re so nutritious I think I would be denying myself to walk past the cookie jar without grabbing one…right?

Double chocolate peanut butter ice cream? Whoa. Don’t even get me started. I have chills just thinking about it. Are they chills because it was the richest, creamiest ice cream/mousse hybrid I’ve ever tasted or are they chills because I licked the freezer bowl clean? I’ll never know.

Ultimately, give me a frozen dessert, a dessert that mixes sweet and salty, or something that melts in my mouth and can be justified in my illogical head as healthy and I’m done for. I’ve met my match. It’s that simple.
But EmW’s dessert weakness? Now that’s a tricky one. Believe it or not, it’s not an oreo. It’s not even a whoopie pie or a peanut butter bacon cookie. No, EmW’s weakness is much more straight forward. It’s a dessert that means business. No sweet-talking, no silly pretenses, no frosting or custard or piecrust to get in the way. Just…pudding.

Emily might have crazy self-restraint when it comes to seductive cookies left out on the table or licking spatulas and bowls daily…a kind of self-restraint that I cannot claim to possess even in the smallest quantities…but give this girl a pudding cup, be it instant Jello, a charming little Snack Pack, or a freshly whipped up batch of dark chocolate pudding and this girl will lose her marbles. Inhibitions out the window. Just like that. Who knew all it took was a pudding cup.

I discovered this wonderful little secret by accident. We were having a black and white themed party (think oreos, black and whites, and chocolate flecked meringues…) and I wanted to make a black and white cream pie. I set off to the library and returned with “Pie, Pie, Pie!” and a simple recipe for Chocolate Cream Pie. YUM. Apparently, chocolate cream pie is really just PUDDIN’ Pie with an extra large emphasis on the pudding because, honestly, if you just make the pudding part of this recipe and eat it out of a Dixie cup with crushed oreos and gummy worms and call it dirt…I’ll totally understand.
-EmB

Chocolate Puddin’ Pie
(Adapted from “Pie Pie Pie” by John Phillip Carroll and “Baking from my Home to Yours” with Dorie Greenspan)

For the Piecrust (Dorie Greenspan’s Sweet Tart Dough)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

For the Pudding:
3 cups milk (I used skim and it was still very creamy)
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
4 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla

To make the piecrust:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch tart pan or a glass pie pan (I used a 9-inch Pyrex pie pan and served directly from that).

Whisk flour, powdered sugar and salt in a large bowl till combined and fluffy. Scatter the butter pieces over the dry ingredients and incorporate the bits with your fingers—you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk to break it up and mix it in with a spoon just until the dough forms clumps. Don’t work the dough any more than necessary or it will become unpleasantly dense, though I haven’t run into this problem yet. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing in the bowl. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the buttered pan, using all but one little piece of the dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Don’t press too heavily to the pan or else the crust could become dense once again. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes before baking and then you won’t need to use pie weights!

Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. Bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and patch any cracks with that left over bit of refrigerated dough. Bake for another 8 minutes or so, until the crust is firm and brown.

To make the pudding:
Combine the milk and chocolate in a medium saucepan. Place over moderate heat and whisk frequently for about 4 minutes, or until the chocolate is melted. Don’t worry if the mixture looks speckled and grainy; it will become smooth later.

In the meantime, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan (this is NOT over heat) and whisk them together until evenly mixed. Continue whisking as you add the chocolate milk in a steady, continuous stream. Add the egg yolks and whisk vigorously until blended. Cook over moderate heat, whisking almost constantly, for 6-8 minutes, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and boil gently for about 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat, add the butter, and stir until smooth. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding (to keep a skin from forming) and cool for 30 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and stir in the vanilla. Pour the pudding into the prepared piecrust and place another sheet of plastic wrap over it. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, until chilled and firm.

To make the whipped cream:
Combine the cream and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk until the cream stands in smooth, fluffy peaks that barely hold their shape. Fold in the vanilla and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

To serve:
Spread whipped cream over top of pudding, leaving a the edges of the pudding uncovered. If you would like to dress it up, make chocolate shavings using a vegetable peeler and sprinkle them on top of the whipped cream. Serve chilled.

One for the moms…

Our good friend Joy the Baker (no, we’re not actually friends and okay, you caught us, we may or may not refer to her by first name as if we have actually met her) wrote a hilarious post a while back entitled, How to Impress a Boy by Baking. In said post Joy teaches us valuable life lessons. She teaches us how all the boys worth anything love baked goods, she explains how to make brownies to win over friends, how to put bacon in cookies and make boys drool, how we should feel good about baking up yummy things for boys because we want to, never because we should.

Joy also teaches us how to impress boy’s moms. That’s right. I hesitate to write this because it is highly possible a certain mother could be reading this post, but I must admit I needed a little help from Joy this weekend when my boyfriend’s parents came to visit.

It would be fun to say that this cake was the result of a calculated decision. I’d like to describe how every aspect of this cake was suited to taste and that the buttermilk and poppy seeds and blueberry glaze each had an intended effect designed to woo my boyfriend’s mom. I’d really like to be able to tell you that I spent hours in the kitchen crafting this exceptionally delicate cake all for the sake of a happy mother and a good impression. Unfortunately, I made the cake simply because it was pretty and yummy and I cooked it all up without breaking a sweat in under an hour because it’s just that straight forward. Shucks.

Regardless of my lack of calculation and slaving in the kitchen to produce this cake, I can assure you that it was a huge hit. Just don’t look at me, I didn’t do anything, it was all thanks to my friend Joy.
-EmB

Buttermilk Poppy Seed Cake with Blueberry Glaze
(Adapted from Joy the Baker)

For the cake:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ⅓ cup canola oil
1 cup buttermilk (make your own by adding 1 tablespoon white vinegar to 1 cup skim milk and leaving to sit for 5-10 minutes)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

For the blueberry glaze:
1/4 cup frozen blueberries, thawed but not drained
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons buttermilk (or regular milk is fine too)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan and set aside. (It is always better to over grease than to under grease when using bundt pans.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together canola oil, buttermilk, egg, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once. Whisk together until just combined and no lumps remain. Stir in the poppy seeds. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cook in the pan for 20 minutes. Carefully run a butter knife along the edges of the cake to assure that it is well loosed before inverting the cake onto a wire rack to cool.

To make the blueberry glaze:

Mash the thawed blueberries in a medium sized bowl releasing lots of dark blue juice. Remove most of the blueberry skins from the juice and discard. Add the vanilla extract, buttermilk and lemon. Add the powdered sugar and whisk to combine. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk to reach the desired consistency. If the mixture is too thin, add just a bit more powdered sugar.

Drizzle the glaze over the completely cooled bundt cake and allow to set for 20 minutes before serving. (If you can wait that long…)

Bunzzz

In lieu of a traditional post today, I simply present to you some haikus on cinnamon buns:

Oh cinnamon buns

So sinfully delicious

I could eat them all

Hello you warm buns

You won’t stop calling to me

Slathered in frosting

I’m sorry tummy

They were just so delicious

Ate too many buns

-EmW

Cinnamon Buns with Cream Cheese Frosting

(Adapted from SmittenKitchen)

For the dough:

1 cup milk

3 Tb unsalted butter

3 ½ cups flour (you will probably need more than this though, I would leave an additional small bowl full on the side)

½ cup sugar

1 large egg

2 ¼ tsp rapid-rise or instant yeast (equivalent to 1 envelope of yeast)

1 tsp salt

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

For the filling:

¾ cup brown sugar

2 Tb cinnamon

¼ C unsalted butter (½ stick), softened enough to spread easily

Pinch of salt

For the frosting:

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ C unsalted butter (½ stick), room temperature

½ tsp vanilla extract

Make the dough:

1. Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave until butter melts and mixture is just warmed (about 45 seconds). Pour into bowl of stand mixer.
2. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed for 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of the bowl.
3. Add additional 2 ½ cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky. If dough is still very very very sticky, add flour by tablespoons until dough begins to form a ball and a pull away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Lightly flour a work surface. Place dough on surface and knead for about 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky. Form dough into ball.
5. Lightly oil a large bowl with nonstick spray. Place dough ball into bowl, turning it around to coat in spray. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel. Let dough rise in a warm environment for approximately 2 hours, or until double in volume.

Make the filling and roll up those buns:

1. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and pinch of salt in a medium bowl.
2. Once dough has risen adequately, press it down. Transfer to floured work surface.
3. Roll out to an approximately 11x15 inch rectangle.
4. Spread butter over dough, leaving ½ inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture evenly over butter.
5. Starting at the longer side of the rectangle, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down using a sharp serrated knife, cut dough into equal slices (each approximately ½ to ¾ of an inch wide).
6. With nonstick spray, grease two 9-inch square glass baking dishes (I used two metal pans, one 9x9 and one 8x8, which also worked perfectly well).
7. Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up. There will be almost no space between the rolls.
8. Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap and then kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm area for 40-45 minutes, or until rolls are doubled in volume. This may take longer depending on the environment, but have patience and let those buns rise!
9. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto cooling rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up and allow to continue cooling. Pause to enjoy the fact that your kitchen now smells like a Cinnabon shop.

Make the frosting:

1. Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl and using electric mixer, beat until smooth.
2. Spread frosting on rolls.* Serve warm or at room temperature (though I say warm is definitely the way to go…nobody has the will power to turn down a warm cinnamon bun).

*If you are not planning on eating these soon after baking or the day of baking, I would keep the frosting off and frost the buns as you eat them (after popping them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to give them that soft, hot, fresh-out-of-the-oven deliciousness)

Not Paula Deen's Bread Pudding

How do you feel about bread pudding? You can be honest, it’s really okay. Does bread pudding sound like one of those “empty” foods to you? Are there underwhelming images of white bread, milk, raisins and white sugar floating somewhere off in the distance of your memory? Does this sound altogether unappealing?

Good. That kind of bread pudding probably should sound unappealing. But what about whole wheat challah bread mixed with sautéed summer vegetables, eggs, mozzarella cheese, and fresh herbs? Sounding a little better now isn’t it? I’ve never tried a sweet bread pudding because, frankly, it just doesn’t sound like my thing, but I would still confidently put my money on this savory baby to beat even the most decadent sweet bread pudding in a fight.
Since tackling my challah bread recipe earlier this summer I’ve been experimenting with savory bread puddings and I’ve come up with an incredibly adaptable and, thus far, fool-proof recipe. Trust me, I’ve tried every jumbled combination of farmer's market vegetables in this recipe over the weeks and I assure you that whether you throw in onions, spinach, asparagus, zucchini, green beans or even beet greens, this bread pudding will always stop you in your tracks.

So back to my question—bread pudding not your thing? Great, it’s not mine either. Now that we’ve gotten this settled, you should probably go find something better to do with your time. Maybe you should make this bread pudding. What? Yeah.
-EmB

Savory Bread Pudding (loosely adapted from 101cookbooks)
Some notes before you begin: you can use another bread of your choice but challah is particularly wonderful because it magically soaks up liquid like a sponge while maintaining its structure. As for vegetables, I would throw in whatever you have on hand that’s fresh and use as much as you want; the pudding works well regardless of how many vegetables you throw in.

One 1-pound loaf day old whole wheat challah bread (or another bread of your choice)
3 cups milk (I use skim, but it is your choice)
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon dried dill
1 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped (or another vegetable of your choice, just sauté it according to your judgment)
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 1 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella, swiss or gruyere would work well)
Olive oil for sautéing vegetables

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9x13 cooking pan.

In a large skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Stir in the onions and cook until they begin to soften. Add in the zucchini (or whatever vegetable you are using) and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini browns (about ten minutes). Remove from heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Using a serrated knife, roughly cut the bread into 1 inch cubes. Put the cubes into a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, broth, eggs, salt, pepper, and dill until well combined. Mix the sautéed vegetables and ¾ cup of the cheese into the wet ingredients and then pour the mixture over the bread and fold everything together until all of the bread is moistened and the ingredients seem well combined. Pour into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of cheese. Bake the pudding for 35-45 minutes, or until the top is browned and crisp and there is no liquid in the middle. If it is browned and the pudding doesn’t jiggle too much when you shake it, I’d call it done. Let pudding sit for ten minutes to cool and set before serving.

Take a bite while it’s still warm. Now what do you think of bread pudding?

Bacon.

There is meat in my cookies. Yup, you read that correctly. Meat in my cookies. But don’t you worry because that meat is bacon. Phew. No big deal. Just bacon. Delicious fatty, fatty, fatty bacon.

Might I add that there are only five ingredients in these cookies. Sounds crazy right? But it’s true. I wouldn’t lie to you about these cookies. Just five. Not to mention that two of those five are bacon and peanut butter. This is madness!

Now be warned, people may doubt you. They may say, “Bacon in cookies!? Gross! Weird! Sinful! You are crazy!” But don’t let them make you doubt yourself. Simply tell them to sit back, relax, and be prepared to go on a cookie journey unlike any other.

Okay now I have to tell you something that will make it even clearer how wildly delicious these cookies are. I am not a big meat eater at all. I have even debated going the vegetarian route. But these cookies may have just transformed me into a full on carnivore. The kind of carnivore that only eats pb-bacon cookies and nothing else.

So make them right now. But just be prepared to have the unavoidable desire to eat them all immediately.

-EmW

P.S. I apologize for the serious lack of quality in these pictures, we were too busy freaking out over the cookies to sit still and have an actual pb-bacon cookie photo shoot.

Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies

(Adapted from JoyTheBaker)

1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky, either works)

1 cup sugar (½ C brown, ½ C granulated)

1 egg

1 tsp baking soda

6 slices of bacon, cooled and diced up

1. In a skillet over medium heat, fry up bacon until cooked through. Let cool a bit and then dice the bacon (we broke it up with our fingers which worked perfectly well).
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a mixer, combine peanut butter and sugar until well combined. Add egg and baking soda and continue to mix until well combined again. Mix in cooked bacon.
4. Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and press down light with a fork to create a criss-cross pattern. If dough is crumbly, don’t fret! Just use your hands and smush it back together into dough balls. Problem solved.
5. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool and firm up on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack. And my final suggestion? Eat them immediately, because a warm pb-bacon cookie is a very beautiful thing.

Oreo, oreo, oreo!

It’s time to talk about oreos. Oreos are kind of a big deal because I really, truly adore all things oreo. Growing up, I never called it cookies n’ cream ice cream…no no no, it was oreo ice cream….that is, until I realized that most of the world calls it cookies n’ cream. Sadly, I have been forced to change my ways as it has caused much difficulty when ordering my beloved ice cream. Rest in peace oreo ice cream.

Furthermore, I believe one of the world’s greatest food pairs is vanilla soft serve ice cream blended with crushed oreo cookies. Can I interest you in Dairy Queen’s Oreo Blizzard, McDonald’s Oreo McFlurry, or Wendy’s Oreo Twisted Frosty? Now anybody who knows me knows that I am not the kind of girl to go running out for some fast food, but when you throw oreos into said fast food? Well, I’m sold. And with the number of chains that offer this brilliant concoction on their menus it means I am never far from oreo-vanilla yummy deliciousness.

And now to put the cherry on top of my oreo obsession I present you with (as if you couldn't already guess)...

Homemade oreos! Although they have the same name, these are quite different from the packaged kind that my buddies at Nabisco make. But (!) different does not mean they are any less delicious, because these treats still have those same classic elements: two crisp, chocolate, not-too-sweet wafer cookies sandwiching a thick layer of vanilla, sinfully sweet and very delicious, filling. I truly believe that cookies like this have the power to both fulfill an oreo lover's greatest fantasy and turn anybody that doubts the magic of these cookies into a true believer. Pretty amazing stuff, don’t you think?

-EmW

Homemade Oreos

(adapted from SmittenKitchen)

For the chocolate cookies:

1 ¼ C flour

½ C unsweetened cocoa (the recipe calls for Dutch process, though I used the regular kind and they turned out delicious)

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 C sugar

½ C plus 2 TB unsalted butter, room temperature

1 egg

For the filling:

¼ C unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ C vegetable shortening

2 C sifted confections’ sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Make the chocolate cookies: In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar until combined.
3. Add the butter and egg and mix until dough comes together in a mass.
4. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place them on parchment lined pans about two inches apart (these cookies spread a bit). Dip the bottom of a cup in water and slightly flatten the dough (alternatively you can use moistened hands). Also, if you want the cookies to sparkle a bit, dip the bottom of a cup in water, then a bit of granulated sugar, and use this to flatten the cookies slightly. I did this and they turned out quite pretty but be careful not to do too much sugar because then the cookies do not look so pretty!
5. Bake cookies for approximately 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Allow cookies to cool on pan for a few minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
6. Make the filling: in an electric mixer, combine butter and shortening. Slowly add powdered sugar and vanilla, mixing until light and fluffy.
7. Assembly time! Place filling in a pastry bag (or if you don’t have one/don’t want to use one, just place it in a plastic ziplock bag and cut a just small bit of the corner to create a tip. Pipe approximately teaspoon size blobs on one cookie, then press down lightly with another cookie until filling reaches the edge. Continue until all cookies are sandwiched together and then eat one, immediately.

Summer Lessons (Part 1)

Some things I have learned this summer:

1. Never ever ever ever run through nettles…that story is for another day, but for now, just take my word for it.
2. The geniuses behind Disney-Pixar know exactly how to make me cry (Have you seen Toy Story 3? Or Up?? Or Wall-E!? Go see them and you will know what I mean).
3. The Midwest is missing out on some seriously amazing desserts.

Now allow me to elaborate on Lesson 3:

Okay first there were whoopie pies and my shocking discovery that almost none of my Midwestern buddies knew what the heck a whoopie pie was.

And then came along these black and white cookies.

First of all, I have always referred to these delicious treasures as half moons, but according to further research (thanks again Wikipedia!) that is just a regional, New England thing. But that is not the point I want to make. See, I always assumed that these yummy little things were all over the country. Apparently they are not. Once again, none of my Midwestern buddies grew up with them! Well it is time for an introduction. Midwest, this is black & white cookie, black & white cookie, this is the Midwest.

Now please enjoy the beauty that is the black and white (half moon!) cookie: soft, cakey vanilla cookies with a vanilla glaze on one half and chocolate glaze on the other. I see them as the delicious, cookie version of a chocolate-vanilla twist soft serve ice cream cone, and come on, who doesn’t looooove that? It’s a double, twisted yum.

-EmW

Black & White Cookies (aka Half Moons)

(Adapted from JoyTheBaker)

For the cookies:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk*

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

For the vanilla glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tb light corn syrup

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 Tb hot water

For the chocolate glaze:

4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

3 Tb unsalted butter

1 Tb light corn syrup

1. Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup.

2. Beat together butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, beating until well combined. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk/vanilla mixture alternately in batches at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Be sure to scrape down the bowl occasionally. Mix until smooth.

3. Spoon tablespoons of batter onto parchment lined baking sheet (be aware that these cookies spread quite a bit). Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, about 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

4. Make the vanilla glaze: in a bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, corn syrup and hot water, until smooth. If the glaze seems too thick, add a bit more water (but just a little bit! nobody wants a too thin glaze). The glaze needs to be thick enough to stay on the cookies.

5. Flip all the cookies over so they are bottom side up. Spread vanilla glaze on one half of the cookies. A slated spatula is very helpful at this step but not necessary by any means and a knife works just fine.

6. While the vanilla glaze sets, make the chocolate glaze: place the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat butter and chocolate in the microwave for about 1 minute and stir until all the chocolate is melted. Add the corn syrup, stirring again until nice and smooth. Spread other half of cookies with chocolate glaze. Allow glazes to set (if you are impatient just pop them in the fridge) and then feast on the beautiful chocolate-vanilla-yummminess you have just created.

*As I mentioned with the whoopie pies, there is no need to buy buttermilk if you don’t want to. Just add one tablespoon white vinegar per one cup milk, allow to sit for 10 minutes, stir it and voila, buttermilk!

Now for a little introduction...

We started this blog a few weeks ago and have been enjoying a smashing time sharing our pies and breads and cookies with you but this is starting to feel just a little improper. Here we are going on and on about very intimate things like pie preferences and baking styles when we were never properly introduced!

So we’re both named Emily. There’s EmW who hails from Boston and EmB who’s from New York City. We’re roommates and friends who share a love of baking and live together in a very special house at our college in a small Midwestern town. Why is it such a special house, you may ask? This house has had open doors to the community for over a century and is a gathering place for students and townspeople alike to share cookies, games of cribbage, and good company. The kitchen is open and stocked with ingredients for those who want to bake up some chocolate chip cookies at any and all times of the day. As student residents we live, work, and breathe this house. We’re responsible for maintaining a guest room and keeping the house and garden in good condition so that the entire community can make use of them. Perhaps our favorite job, however, is scheming up and hosting weekly Sunday Brunch and Wednesday night events. As such, we essentially are paid to run a small bakery/B&B. Our days are sprinkled with flour, absurd quantities of butter, and flocks of hungry college students seeking the comfort of warm cookies and homemade ice cream.
Phewf! Don't you feel better now that we've had that cleared up? Good, now how about something tasty?

-Em&Em

chocolate fairy dust: a meringue's best friend

Meringues are pretty. Have you ever seen one? They’re shiny and glossy and so light you’d think they could float. Sometimes they’re angelically pure and white, but sometimes they’re flecked with little bits of mysterious heaven. For dark chocolate fans like myself those bits are the fairy dust that materializes when I take a sharp knife to a bar of quality dark chocolate. I'm really not sure there's anything more satisfying than chopping up good chocolate on a wooden counter. Sigh.
I strongly recommend that make these. You should probably do that right now, actually. They are just as delicious as they are purrrdy and they’re doing you a serious favor by using up all of those extra egg whites you know you have floating around. If you don’t already have extra egg whites, you’ll soon have some extra egg yolks. Use them to make challah or banana cream pie. Invite your friends over. Your buddies might even like you just a tiny bit more after you feed them meringues and bread and pie. Maybe.

In case you need any more reason to make these, the recipe is incredibly simple.

Dark Chocolate Flecked Meringues
(Loosely adapted from The Baker’s Dozen Cookbook)

3 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces good dark chocolate, chopped very finely

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Pour egg whites into a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip on low speed until foamy. Add the salt, increase the speed to medium-high, and whip just until soft peaks form. With the machine running, slowly add the sugar. Sit back and watch as your simple egg whites thicken up and become a gorgeous mountain of silky clouds. The whites will start begin to hold shape. Once the peaks are stiff and glossy, turn the mixer off and, using a rubber spatula, fold in the vanilla and the finely chopped chocolate.

Pour it all carefully into a Ziploc bag and cut a small hole in the bag’s corner. Squeeze the meringues into fluffy discs about 1 ½ inches wide and spaced 1 inch apart on your baking sheet. Place them in the oven and find something good and distracting to do for the next 45 minutes or until your meringues are firm but not browned and peal easily off the parchment paper. Cool completely on the baking sheets.

Wasn’t that magical? Thought so.

-EmB

Suga suga how you get so fly

So here is my sad confession: I tend to be a baking perfectionist. It really can be great when I am doing something that requires super detail and focus, but sometimes...it can be annoying and just get in the darn way. Over and over I tell myself to stop (!!!) worrying about making every little thing perfect. But sometimes I just won't listen and when that perfectionistic mindset takes over, well...it can really suck the fun out of things.

But wait! There is a silver lining to this stormy baking cloud! And it all has to do with Noor, the adorable girl that I babysit for during the week. Based on our mutual love of cinnamon, baking, and Matilda, little Noor is truly a girl after my own heart. But you know what else is great about her? She is a crazy little baker who forces me to loosen up and break out my baking wild side (yes, it exists in me somewhere).

Example A: these sugar cookies. First, Noor dug through the cabinets and found every type of sprinkle we had in the house. And then we went crazy on these cookies, and made sure that each cookie was unique and full of color (but still delicious!). So here’s a shout out my favorite six year old for being my newest baking inspiration...the creative baking bug has bitten and who knows what will happen next (stay tuned!)

Sugar Cookies

(Adapted from Baked)

1 ¾ cups flours

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking powder

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

2 Tbs vegetable shortening

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Colorful sprinkles and/or cinnamon sugar.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside.

2. In an electric mixer beat the butter, shortening, and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until just combined.

3. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined.

4. Wrap dough and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.*

5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

6. Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Unwrap chilled dough and put it directly on the floured work surface. Roll the dough out ¼ inch thick. Make sure to check to see if dough is sticking to work surface, and if it is, sprinkle it with flour and flip the floured side over and continue to roll out.

7. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out shapes in the dough and transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets.

8. Prior to baking, sprinkle cookies with colorful sprinkles. If you want a nice cinnamon sugar taste, sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top as well (it’s pretty yummy!).

9. Bake cookies for 12 minutes, until set but not browned. Allow to cool on sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer cookies to a rack t cool completely.

*Noor and I were very impatient and simply split the dough in half, flattened it into two thick pancakes, then wrapped it in plastic wrap and stuck it in the freezer for 30 minutes. It probably wasn’t the ideal way to do it, but if you want your sugar cookies ASAP then this works pretty well too.

1

Whole Wheat Challah Bread

We have a little tradition around these parts. Every Friday night I bake up some whole wheat challah bread (a traditionally Jewish braided bread made with an egg base) and EmW cooks up something delicious and fancy for a special meal. We like this tradition a whole lot. It brings structure to our weeks, it brings a little class to start the weekends off right. This is another long-winded, multi-step recipe but I am confident you can do it.

Roll up your sleeves, clear your schedule, and get ready to impress yourself. Along the way you’ll learn some sweet secret lingo like “The Soaker” and “The Biga” and, oh my, “The Final Dough!” This knowledge will likely intimidate all of your friends. You’ll be feeling all affectionate toward your beautiful braided bread babies in a flash. If you’re like me, you might even make your buddy snap an embarrassing number of pictures of you holding your loaves. People might call you crazy for cradling challah loaves like newborns but don’t worry, I understand, this bread is something to be proud of.
-EmB

Whole Wheat Challah Bread
(adapted from Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks...her directions are thorough and very easy to follow)

PART ONE: THE SOAKER (Day 1)

1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour, preferably pastry flour
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup water

1. Mix all the soaker ingredients together in a bowl for about 1 minute, until all of the flour is hydrated and the ingredients form a ball of dough.

2. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. (If it will be more than 24 hours, place the soaker in the refrigerator; it will be good for up to 3 days. Remove it 2 hours before mixing the final dough to take off the chill.)


PART TWO: THE BIGA (Day 2)

1 ¾ cups unbleached bread flour
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
7 tablespoons filtered or spring water, at room temperature
1 large egg, slightly beaten
4 egg yolks

1. Mix all of the biga ingredients together in a bowl to form a ball of dough. Using wet hands, knead the dough in the bowl for 2 minutes to be sure all of the ingredients are evenly distributed and the flour is fully hydrated. The dough should feel very tacky. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then knead it again with wet hands for 1 minute. The dough will become smoother but still be tacky.

2. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours a day and up to 3 days.

3. About 2 hours before mixing the final dough, remove the biga from the refrigerator to take off the chill. It will have risen slightly but need not have risen significantly in order to use it in the final dough.

PART THREE: THE FINAL DOUGH (Day 2)

Use all of the soaker
Use all of the biga
7 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast

2 ½ tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

- extra whole wheat flour for adjustments
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water plus a pinch of salt for egg wash
- poppy seeds or sesame seeds for topping (optional)

1. Using a metal scraper, chop the soaker and the biga into 12 smaller pieces each (or as close to 12 as you can get, don’t fret it, this just makes the mixing process a little easier)

2. If mixing by hand, combine the soaker and biga pieces in a bowl with the 7 tablespoons flour and the salt, yeast, honey, and vegetable oil. Stir vigorously with a mixing spoon or knead with wet hands for about 2 minutes, until all of the ingredients are evenly integrated and distributed into the dough. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky; if not, add more flour or water as needed. If using a stand mixer, put the pre-dough pieces in the bowl along with the 7 tablespoons of flour and the salt, yeast, honey, and vegetable oil. Mix on slow speed with the paddle attachment (preferable) or the dough hook for 1 minute to bring the ingredients together into a ball. Switch to the dough hook if need be and mix on medium-low speed, occasionally scraping down the bowl, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the pre-dough becomes cohesive and assimilated into each other. Add more flour or water as needed until the dough is soft and slightly sticky.

3. Dust a work surface with flour, then roll the dough in the flour to coat. Knead the dough by hand for 3 to 4 minutes, incorporating only as much extra flour as needed, until the fought feels soft and tacky, but not sticky. Form the dough into a ball and let it rest on the work surface for 5 minutes while you prepare a clean, lightly oiled bowl.

4. Resume kneading the dough for 1 minute to strengthen the gluten and make any final flour or water adjustments. The dough should have strength and pass the windowpane test, yet still feel soft, supple, and very tacky. Form the dough into a ball and place it in the prepared bowl, rolling to coat with oil. Cover loosely with a dishcloth or plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for approximately 45 to 60 minutes, until it is about 1 ½ times its original size.

5. Gently transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface (try not to rip or tear the dough). I suggest you make two large loaves but if you are a confident braider and want to try several smaller loaves or one massive one, go right ahead. Using the metal scraper, slice the dough cleanly (do not tear) into three equal pieces. Now using your hands, carefully roll each piece out to a rope of about 20 inches and then cut each rope in half. Cover the dough ropes loosely with a dishcloth and let rest for about 5 minutes. Three-piece braiding: Lay three equal strands side by side. Start by overlapping one of the outside strands over the middle strand. Take the opposite outside strand and lay it over the new middle strand. Continue this pattern until you run out of dough. Pinch the end closed. Rotate the loaf 180 degrees and repeat the pattern. Braid both loaves.

6. Place the braided loaves on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Brush the egg wash on the loaves and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

7. Brush the dough with egg wash a second time, then top with poppy seeds or sesame seeds. Leave the dough uncovered to continue rising for 15 more minutes. Preheat the oven to 400F.

8. Place the challah on the middle shelf, reduce the heat to 325F and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the loaf 180 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes. Check the bread. It is done when the bread is a rich brown all over around and sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom. If it needs more time, rotate again and continue baking for another 10 minutes. Check frequently because over baked bread will be a bit dry and off in texture.

9. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and let it cool for at least 1 hour before serving. (Unless you like it warm…I like to eat mine as soon as it’s cool enough to grab at the insides without burning my impatient fingers).

Strawberry Tart

Remember that time I was obsessed with banana cream pie? That time so very long ago when I jabbered on and on about my failed adventures with custard and bore you all to death with the world’s longest post? Well, that time is gone. Venting session officially over. Thanks for the closure.Now it’s time for the most simple and stunning pie I know. Strawberries are perfection at this time of year…especially when you pick them from a farm field while wearing overalls and a bandanna around your hair as the sun beats down and your fingers start to hurt from all those thorn bushes and you just can’t stop thinking about how darn picturesque it all is. Welcome to the heartland ladies and gents, it sure is looking pretty! In fact, I'm pretty sure this tart is just about the prettiest girl in town.

-EmB
Strawberry Tart
(adapted from Dorie Greenspan)

1 9-inch tart crust (use the same recipe as for banana cream pie)
1 quart ripe, fragrant strawberries
Good quality strawberry jam
Sugar for tossing with strawberries (optional, depending on sweetness of strawberries)
Splash of crème de cassis (also optional, I skipped this step)

Wash and halve strawberries if they are overly large, simply wash them if they are small and freshly picked like these were. Toss strawberries with sugar and crème de cassis if using. Spread a generous layer of jam over the bottom of the cooled tart crust. Arrange strawberries over jam in a circular fashion, working from the outside in. Place extra strawberries strategically to improve the pretty-factor of this already adorable tart.

Makin' whoopie (pies)

So here’s the scene:
First: One hot, cramped, humid kitchen (apparently not good for angel food cake, as EmB will soon tell you all about)

Second: EmB and I are hosting our first special Wednesday event. Will it be a bust? Will EmB and I have spent all day baking for nothing? Will we be done in time? Oh the stress, the stress!

Third: We have EmB suffering through banana cream pie. As EmB mentioned, custard making…not so easy. It seems simple, but nope, it’s sneaky and hard to make. Not to mention, I was zero help. My advice regarding custard is apparently very bad advice. Seriously though, Dorie Greenspan’s directions for custard making: NOT clear. Dorie, we love you and the drool inducing photos of desserts in your cookbooks, but really, you need to help us out a little bit more.

Fourth: We have whoopie pies. According to Wikipedia, a whoopie pie could also be a macaron. FALSE. A whoopie pie is a whoopie pie and it ain’t nothin’ but a whoopie pie. I am really super into making and eating them, and much to my horror I have come to realize that much of the world does not know what a whoopie pie is. Apparently, these most delicious of cookies are a New England phenom, but my goooooooooodness they should not be.

Never seen one? Okay, imagine this: a thick layer of beautiful, fluffy, vanilla, marshmallowy frosting nestled between two perfect, round, cakey, chocolately cookies which are then sprinkled with powdered sugar to amp up the adorableness of these cute little cookies (and by little I mean huge, because these cookies are large and in charge). They are soft little pillows of amazing and I would sleep on a bed of them if I could. And if you still can’t picture it, just think of an Oreo but about a hundred times more decadent, delicious, and mouth watering.

Are you drooling yet? Because I am.

Anyway, want to know how many whoopie pies I made? About a million. Yup, that many. I channeled my inner Keebler Elf and busted out batch after batch of these babies. And now you should too.

-EmW

Whoopie Pies
(Adapted from Martha Stewart)

For the cookies:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk (don't want to buy buttermilk? make it yourself: add one tablespoon white vinegar per one cup milk, allow to sit for 10 minutes, stir it and voila, buttermilk!)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 jar (7 1/2 ounces) marshmallow Fluff
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. With a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Slowly add dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
2. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes. Move cookies to cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter until all cookies are baked.
3. Make the frosting: with an electric mixer, cream together butter and confectioners’ sugar until pale and fluffy. Add Fluff and vanilla and continue mixing until well combined
4. Spread frosting onto flat side of one cookie and sandwich together with another.