Quite some time ago, our community group headed over to Katie and Adam’s to bombard Katie with dinner (and of course, cake) for Katie’s birthday.

I have been dabbling in cake decorating, and this was my first real go at it, with a little instruction from Martha Stewart, and a #102 Wilton tip:

Typically, at Easter, we head to the Resort in The Woodlands for a champagne brunch. The food is fantastic and there is always more to choose from than you can fit in your belly. This year, we visited the brunch at Christmas when my brother was home from college, so we opted to make brunch at home for Easter, sans brother. We had Eggs Benedict, dolled up with prosciutto and spinach, as well as these crab/avocado/mango towers.

Crab Tower and his friend, Egg Benedict

We also had this fantastic carb-loaf called a “Butter Braid.”

Twelve or so servings of flaky pastry wrapped around a gooey, sweet, frosting-like cinnamon frosting and topped with a vanilla glaze. Think glorified Toaster Strudel. Doesn’t get much better than that. The recipe for the Butter Braid involves finding your Butter Braid dealer. I would highly encourage it.

Back to the crab. The crab is excellent, the mint and cilantro highlight the dish with a fresh taste and the avocado provides a touch of creaminess next to the sweet mango. The whole dish is tied together with a mango sauce that is sweet with brown sugar with cayenne and paprika for a bite.

Crab Towers with Avocado and Mango Filling, and Mango Sauce

Tower Directions:

In a bowl add the crab meat, 2 tsp of cilantro, 1 tsp of mint, the garlic, a tbsp of lime juice, 2 tbsp of olive oil, 10 drops of Tabasco sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix carefully with a fork. Refrigerate.

In a separate bowl add the mango, avocado, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 Tbsp of lime juice, the remaining cilantro and mint leaves, 20 drops of Tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix carefully with a spoon, as not to smash the avocado.

Line 5 small ramekins or desert bowls with plastic wrap for individual towers. Press crab into the bottom third of the ramekin, then the avocado mixture into the middle third, and then more crab to fill the dish. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours or overnight.

Sauce directions:

Heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the mango, season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes until the fruit is very tender. Add water, bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in all other ingredients and let the sugar and spices dissolve for 3 minutes while stirring.

When you are ready to serve, turn the ramekins upside down on individual plates. Pull off the ramekins, leaving plastic wrap intact, then gently pull off the plastic wrap and drizzle with sauce. serve extra sauce on the side.

I have a confession. I am a horrible fudge and toffee-maker. I would like to blame this on bad candy thermometers or (some other culprit I can’t think of, but I think it is me. A few Christmases ago, during my mom and my annual Christmas baking, I put my name next to Peanut Butter Fudge. Namely, because I love it. When I was younger, we would go to Galveston Beach and shop on the Strand, our last stop would be The Peanut Butter Warehouse, which my mom enjoyed for its antiques and I enjoyed for its fudge. The rest of the family would meander around the store, and I would pace back and forth in front of the fudge counter. I would feast my eyes of toffees and fudges, truffles and cordials, brittle, cookies, and all things chocolate-covered knowing my dad would return to get me and let me pick out one (maayyyybe two) treats for the walk back to the car. Dad and I would walk in the back of our group of people, I would savour my choice of fudge and he would sneak me pieces of him. I always liked peanut butter fudge, especially with a layer of chocolate on the top. So, two Christmases ago, I took on my own Peanut Butter Fudge. I took it on once, twice, three times with two different recipes, and each time, ended up wither with a runny, mushy, Peanut Butter Sludge (still tasty when drizzled over icecream) or something hard and burned, where the sugar had beyond-crystalized. Yuck. I have this twitch engrained in my head that if something I tried to make doesn’t turn out, it must because I did something wrong, and if I try harder, there’s no reason I can’t get it right. So, try, try again. I did nothing that day but look at different recipes and pout over batch after batch of ruined fudge.

Since then, I have kind of stayed away from anything involving candy thermometers, for the most part. I tried in the fall to make a delicious-looking Pumpkin Fudge, but again got Pumpkin Sludge.

This Christmas, we were at my mom’s friend JoAnn’s house. JoAnn, couth and adept in the kitchen, refined and at-ease in such a way that you really think, just for a second, the exquisite Cornish hens baking in the oven of her spotless kitchen may have been easy. You know they weren’t, but she sure makes them look otherwise.

A sheet of English Toffee lay on her kitchen table, half broken into pieces, half still in sheet-form, waiting for its last step. I helped myself to a small piece of toffee, and it was heavenly. The kind you would buy in some gourmet store wrapped in simple chic packaging for a mere $10. And you would feel like you got a good deal because ohmygoshthistoffeeissososogood.

I sheepishly asked for the recipe, with flashbacks of my skill in ruining fudge and toffees to be met with “oh, this is so easy” (me thinking: “but you have no idea”). She pulled the recipe out of a notebook, old and stained with butter-splatters and decorated with grains of sugar that had gone astray from their own recipe.

Long story short, I made the toffee. It was successful. Wonderful. Delish. No candy thermometer required…

JoAnn’s English Toffee.

1 lb (4 sticks) plus 1 ½ T. salted butter. Do not (please do not) use margarine. The increased water content in margarine will make your recipe fail.

2 c. Sugar

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Melt butter with sugar in heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat., stirring constantly with a heatproof spoon. Stir until the mixture turns a dark caramel color (about 8-10 minutes). Pour onto cookie sheet. Cool. Melt chocolate chips with 1 ½ T. butter at 30 second intervals in microwave, stir between each interval. Do not overheat. Spread chocolate over cooled toffee.

Look at the chocolate mousse below, doesn’t it look great?

You should try it, too! So elegant and satiable.

Now vote for it:

This Chocolate Mousse is rich in flavour and light in texture, it only has a few ingredients, and you probably have them all on hand! Ready, set, go!

(put any dessert or appetizer in a martini glass and it looks 1,000 times more chic)

Chocolate Mousse with Fresh Whipped

serves 8. 

3/4 c. semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter, diced

2 tablespoons espresso or very strong coffee or vanilla

1 cup cold heavy cream

3 large eggs, separated

2 tablespoons sugar

(Optional) extra whipped cream (if you want whipped cream, whip 1 cup heavy cream to soft peaks, then add 1/3 c sugar and whip to stiff peaks)
Whip 1 cup cream to soft peaks, then refrigerate.

Combine chocolate, butter, and espresso in a microwave-safe bowl, microwave 40 seconds on med. power, stir, repeat until the chocolate is just slightly warmer than room temperature.

While chocolate is cooling, whip the egg whites in a medium bowl until they are foamy and beginning to hold shape.

Sprinkle in the sugar and beat until soft peaks form.

Stir the yolks into the chocolate mixture. Gently stir in half of the whipped cream. Fold in half the whites just until incorporated, fold in the rest of the whites followed by the rest of the whipped cream.

Every Wednesday, Jon has a group of guys over in the morning, which means every Wednesday, I get to make breakfast. Neither of us are much of breakfast eaters, so the only time I get to make it is when we have some sort of company. I love breakfast, and I always remember so when I make it. When we were younger, we often had breakfast for dinner, in which our plates were laden with waffles, sausage and hashbrowns, and the whole lot of it drenched in suryp. My parents were never much of breakfast eaters, so I suppose breakfast for dinner was my mom’s outlet to make such foods. We ought to have breakfast for dinner more often, but we don’t…so here’s to Wednesday mornings.

This is Breakfast Pizza; forgiving, and flexible, it is a great breakfast, brunch, or breakfast-for-dinner meal.

Breakfast Pizza

serves 12.

2 croissant packages

1 lb. sausage, turkey sausage, groung beef, or diced ham

1 t. salt

5 eggs

1/2 c milk

1 1/2 c frozen hashbrowns, defrosted

1 c shredded cheddar, colby jack, pepper jack, or mozarella cheese

one cup each of two of the following: chopped tomatoes, choppes bell pepper, chopped onion, chopped mushrooms, chopped asparagus, chopped squash or more meat.

Cook sausage, potatoes and vegetables in a skillet.

Grease a 9×13 pan and unroll croissants. Place croissants in pan and pinch edges together to form croissant “crust.” Allow crust to come up the sides of the pan 1 inch.

Drain skillet contents of grease and pour over crust.

In a bowl, whisk salt, eggs and milk until combined.

Pour egg mixture over meat and vegetables and top with cheese.

Bake at 375 for 15-25 minutes, until eggs are cookes and cheese is melted.

These are for you, Jenn. Yes, you. Make them for Dave and maybe you’ll get exactly what you want today .

Donut Muffins, doesn’t sound like there can be anything wrong there, right? Right. I love donuts, I love cake donuts, and those old-fashioned sour cream ones with the plain glaze. We used to get donuts every time we went to Colorado to see my grandparents; Grandpa would take us because it was the only time that Grandma would let him get donuts. Grandpa would use our visit to seize all donut flavors in one trip, as
he would have no foreseeable donut-run in the future. Usually, a trip to the donut shoppe was an enigmatic one, it involved lots of time and thought because I would have only as much time as there were people in front of us in the line to examine all donuts and tell my dad the two that I would sink my teeth into that morning. Chocolate or vanilla? Filled or not? The options went on and on. When we were in Colorado, no decisions were necessary. All holds were barred as bear claws, apple fritters, long johns, and jelly-filled donuts would go, one-by-one into the box. We would take them home and mom and Grandma would roll their eyes as we revealed two dozen donuts for the six of us.

While these muffins are no donut, really, they bring back the smells and tastes of the familiar donut run…I am pretty much it has everything to do with the step in the recipe that reads “Roll or dip the muffins in the melted butter and then in the cinnamon/sugar mixture.” Oh, just make them. Indulge yourself.

Donut Muffins

makes 24.

muffins

2/3 c. oil

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

3 c. flour

4 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1 t. nutmeg

1 c. milk

topping

1 c. sugar

2 sticks butter, melted

2 t. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 if using a dark, nonstick pan) and grease a muffin pan

Mix oil, 1 cup sugar, and eggs in a medium bowl.

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together.

Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk to the oil mixture, making three additions of flour mix and two of milk.

Spoon batter into greased muffin tins, about 1/2 full.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Immediately remove muffins from pan when done and roll (or dip) in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon and sugar.

Eat them warm!

Period.

This is awesome, and easy. Who ever though packaged oatmeal was good for anything but a mid-morning office hunger-buster (thanks to you, hot water tap).

So, here it is. The Cranberry Apple Crisp. Starring….packaged oatmeal! I have made this dish both in a casserole dish and in little, individual oven safe bowls. If you do the latter, take them out of the oven hot and put a cold soop of vanilla icecream atop the granola crumble and you won’t evey turn away from this recipe. You have no reason not to make this.

Cranberry Apple Crisp

serves 8.

3 c. chopped Granny Smith apples

2 c. fresh cranberries

1 c. sugar
6 (1 5/8 oz.) packages quick-cooking oatmeal (cinnamon & spice or apples & spice)

3/4 c. chopped walnuts

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the apples and the cranberries with sugar.

Pour into 2 qt casserole dish or 8×8 pan.

Mix remaining ingredients, spoon over top of mixture.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes.

This recipe is modified from AB, who makes it every year for our holiday potluck at work.

Sunday, I resolved to post more on this blog. And then Sunday, the batteries in my camera died. I have a hard time posting when I am void of photos, probably because I can’t stand cookbooks or recipes without photos. If I don’t have an image of what I am striving for, how am I supposed to make it correctly? At Graphic Design conferences, the best thought leaders say that your best ideas come from someone else’s…nothing is completely new. Look at layouts or images, take different pieces that you like, and make something of your own. I like to see pictures of what I am going to make…am I too appearance driven? Don’t judge me

Recently, I have been on a made-totally-from-scratch kick. Hence, last week’s very involved frosting. I got into a long conversation with some ladies last night in which AR told us about her homemade yogurt, which sounds fantastic and may be a project later this week, and Mimi shared stories of growing up in Ethiopia, days full of family and fellowship - making cottage cheese from scratch and using natural herbs and plants to soothe ailments. Inspiring, really.

Sunday we met some fantastic folks at church. They moved down here from Dallas in the last few weeks, and we had the pleasure of having them over for dinner. In light of the made-totally-from-scratch kick, I arrived at home an hour before our guests were to arrive with pounds of tomatoes, carrots, and beef. Begin italian frenzy.

I made a fresh Roasted Vegetable pasta sauce that takes a little time, but it is a foolproof, add-whatever-you-have-in-the-fridge recipe. It freezes well too, so use up your veggies that are on their last day, before they go bad.

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce

serves 8.

3 lb vine ripe tomatoes (use roma, or greenhouse, or whatever you can get your hands on)

1 onion

2 carrots

2 T. rosemary

1 T. thyme

3 T. olive oil

1 head of garlic.

any other veggies you have (increase olive oil 1 T for each extra lb of veggies)

Preheat oven to 450

Line 2 baking sheets with foil

Separate cloves out of the head of garlic, but do not remove outmost skin of clove. Place in oven-safe dish.

Slice carrots into1/2 inch pieces, roughly chop onion, and cut tomatoes in half. Toss veggies in herbs and olive oil. Place veggies on baking sheets, tomatoes should be cut-side down. Roast in oven for 40 minutes.

Also place garlic in the oven and roast 40 minutes.

Remove vegetables from oven, and with tongs, remove skins from tomatoes (this is not imperative, but it will give you a smoother sauce.

Pull outer skin off of garlic cloves to reveal a soft, roasted garlic clove. (Roasting the garlic removes its bite. You can eat a whole roasted garlic clove without being in danger of warding off all house guests. This roasted garlic is also great smashed on a baguette slice, or atop a chic salad.)

Now, for the variations.

For a chunky, lighter pasta sauce: remove vegetables and garlic from baking sheet and dish and place in bowl. Beat with electric mixer until homogeneous.

For a chunky, thicker pasta sauce: remove vegetables and garlic from baking sheet and dish and place in bowl. Beat with electric mixer until homogeneous. Pour mixture into a strainer over the sink to rid the sauce of excess liquid.

For a smooth, lighter pasta sauce: remove vegetables and garlic from baking sheet and dish and place in blender or food processor. Process until smooth.

For a smooth, thicker pasta sauce: remove vegetables and garlic from baking sheet and dish and place in blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Pour mixture into a strainer over the sink to rid the sauce of excess liquid.

Freeze extra sauce in airtight containers.

Meatballs

serves 8.

2 lb lean ground beef

2 T. oregano

1 c. italian breadbrumbs

2 eggs, lightly beaten

4 T. olive oil

Combine all ingredients sans olive oil and and form into small balls, 1.5 inches in diameter. Place half of meatballs in nonstick skillet over medium heat, drizzle with 2 T. olive oil and rotate until cooked all the way through. Repeat with second half of meatballs.

Combine with 16 oz.Whole Wheat Linguini, cooked.

Yesterday was Trisha’s birthday. On everyone else’s birthday, Trisha makes fabulous cakes. Enter icecream, brownie, whipped cream, sprinkles and chocolate fudge. Into your mouth. All in one bite. Yes, Trisha’s cakes are fantastic. But yesterday was Trisha’s own birthday and so I took the liberty of giving her a day off of cake-baking and made one myself.

Chocolate Cake with Bailey’s Ice Cream Frosting

Chocolate Cake(recipe follows)
Chocolate-Caramel Ganache(recipe follows)
Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting(recipe follows)
Store bought Caramel Sauce
Deeply Dark Devil’s Food Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
11 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups warm water

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease two 9 inch cake rounds and dust with flour.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix to incorporate.

Beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat on high speed for about 3 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed, add the flour mixture in three additons alternating with the warm water in two additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix at low speed for 30 seconds. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake cake for 25-40 mintues. Cool cake for 20 minutes after baking.
5. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely before frosting.

Source: The Cake Book by Tish Boyle

Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting

3 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
½ cup water
2 cups sugar
3 cups of butter, at room temperature
½ tsp salt
4 TBSP Bailey’s Caramel Irish Cream

Using a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the eggs and yolks in a large bowl on high speed for about 5 minutes. In a medium saucepan, combine the water and sugar; simmer until it reaches the soft ball stage, registering between 234 and 240F on a candy thermometer. Immediately transfer the syrup to a large heatproof liquid measuring cup. In a slow, thin stream, add the sugar mixture to the egg mixture., mixing on low speed the entire time. Increase the speed to medium and beat about 7 minutes, until the syrup has cooled. Add the butter, half a stick at a time, beating on medium after each addition. Once all of the butter has been added, beat on medium speed until the frosting thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in the salt and Irish Cream.

Chocolate-Caramel Ganache

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream
10 caramel candies, unwrapped

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat the cream and caramels over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramels have melted completely. Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate and stir until melted.
Source: Cake adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. Both Ganache and Buttercream are adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman