Molten Chocolate Cake

What a gorgeous day here in So Flo. It was windy and cool and the sun was bright and warm, heady combo! So that meant some baking was in order. I saw a recipe for molten chocolate cakes and they are delicious. Ate them while still warm and runny with a lovely cakey crust all I needed was some cool vanilla ice cream! They are just too easy to make Wow! :-0

Chocolate Festival

Today is the 2nd day of the Chocolate Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Local vendors were able to set up and let the community know about their businesses. It was great to be able to find out about all these great places.

These are some pics I took walking around the different kiosks that were set up at the festival. The chocolate is plentiful and varied. I found some French macarons in different flavors and truffles galore. The obligatory chocolate fountain with bananas, strawberries and marshmallows to cover. There are also some freshly fried mini doughnuts to dip! There is a wonderful kiosk filled with all kinds of fragrant and colorful spices and teas. I got some fenugreek, zatar and sumac. I can't find these anywhere and this is an extremely pleasant surprise. One place has these Hungarian "horns", these are very thin cinnamon rolls. These were very good and not overly sweet. There was a French bakery from West Palm with fantastic baked goods and the chef was nice enough to give me some tips and information about baking up good croissants! Can't wait to implement his tips! There are tables set up where you can learn how chocolate becomes the chocolate we know and love! There is the added bonus of the gorgeous gardens and the wonderful pictures you can take of the flowers.

Croissants and Viennoiserie

I have completed my first attempt at laminated dough and croissants. This attempt yielded a superb product. The croissants are flakey, light and buttery. The crispy exterior yields to a soft, buttery, yet light and feathery interior. The best moment was walking into the kitchen and smelling croissants. Weird as that sounds they actually smelled like croissants. My sister, M, walked into the kitchen and yelled, "Tania it smells like croissants in here." I walked into the kitchen and was floored by the delicate, buttery and uniquely pleasant aroma. It is a smell you don't forget. Interestingly the ingredients are quite plain and mundane, flour, sugar, salt, yeast and water or milk, after those are mixed and rolled out, you pound out 4 bars of butter and layer that on to the dough. Then just roll and fold at least, 4 times with a 1 hour rest and chilling period in between. Then they are shaped and proofed until puffed. Then just bake for approximately 16 mins. That is the part that freaks me out. All those hours of work (at least 8 but more than likely about 20, for just 16 mins, in the oven. Heavenly! I made about 5 plain, 3 filled with cherry preserves with either almond paste or cheese, 4 with extra-dark bittersweet chocolate, and 2 with cinnamon raisin and 1 with cinnamon raisin and cream cheese. I guess this is goodbye because I would need very cold, dry weather again. *sniff* *sniff* If I do make them again I better get them done by this weekend! hm? Some danishes, perhaps, the dough is VERY similar.

Enjoy the music of Yael Naim, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Tom Waits.

Loaded Cookies

My sis M baked some loaded cookies! Choc chip, cranberry, coconut, oatmeal cookies. Very delicious! Some bacon wrapped dates also made it to the table but the only pic is when they were raw. Those are delicious because the smokey bacon flavor is very pronounced and then you get hit with a soft sweet center, some were filled with a mixture of goat, gorgonzola and cream cheese. I must say, the cheese sort of gets lost but the sweet, creamy center is a nice complement to the bacon-y exterior. My next entry is my foray into the world of laminated dough and it is a video. I am editing so I may not post till tomorrow. Stay tuned!

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So it's like this. I am attempting to begin my holiday cooking and I have had butter sitting on my counter for 36 hours and it feels just as hard as it was when I took it out of the fridge. What the hell? My house feels like a friggin' refrigerator. It is so damn humid here in South Florida and has been for the past 2 days. We need the rain, (as everyone always says) but for Christmas? I have no central heating because, well, it simply isn't necessary here but come on, this bloody humidity is really cramping my cooking schedule! I have great plans but I am worried...to be continued.

Macadamia Nut Pie

This came out fantastic! I followed a standard pecan pie recipe but substituted macadamia nuts for pecans. I also used white sugar and clear corn syrup. It makes for a more light and buttery flavor and this only enhances the rich macadamia nuts. I will try with 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 dark syrup for the next pie, but trust me, this is fantastic! I also zigzagged dark and white chocolate over the top. It is so good that no one wanted to wait and I had to take a pic when it was already cut! I highly recommend this and will surely make it again. You can tell from the picture that the inside is very light and clear. The crust is a standard butter flakey crust. The secret to sturdy, flakey crust, is to freeze it thoroughly and then blind bake before you add your chess pie ingredients. Also brush it with egg yolk to seal it from the moisture and don't forget to use pie weights to hold it down. I just use some dry beans that I only use for baking. A one pound bag of beans will last forever and they are way cheaper than pie weights. Bake on!

Crusty Season

Well it's crust season. For me anyway. It is time for me to bake pies. I have started making crusts for the pies I will make this Thanksgiving. Pumpkin, apple, pecan and sweet potato are the flavors for this coming Thursday. After several experiments and a couple of crusty failures. I have finally achieved the perfect ratio of butter and shortening. The best crusts are made with 3/4 cups shortening and 1/4 cup butter. The butter has been on sale for the past 2 weeks and I have been buying it up for my crusts. But butter is NOT the ingredient to use on it's own in this heat and humidity. It is way too hot and humid here in South Florida to make a crust out of butter. The shortening needs to be there because it will hold up and create a light and flakey crust. My sources say that the best is lard but I just haven't used it this holiday. I will try to post a picture of my apple pie later! Wish me luck.