posts tagged: ‘Cakery Friday’

Friday, April 20th, 2012

Cakery Friday: Homemade Pop Tarts

I have very fond memories of Saturday mornings at summer camp. Saturdays were lazy mornings. No bugle alarm went off to wake you up. No lineup around the flag. The dining hall was open. We could come and go as we pleased.
This is where my love of Pop Tarts was formed. I especially loved the chocolate ones. In order to snag a chocolate pop tart, you had to wake up and get to the dining hall early.
Camp’s been on my mind a lot lately. You know, it’s where I met Adam. And forged friendships I’m relatively certain I”ll have the rest of my life. Oh, and chocolate’s been on my mind too. Ok, chocolate is always on my mind.
Here’s my lazy Saturday recreation.
Gather all of the ingredients.
To make the pastry:
Whisk together 2 cups of all purpose flour with 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Place in the bowl of a food processor and add in 1 cup of chilled, unsalted butter. Pulse the mixture until pea-sized lumps of butter are visible, and the mixture holds together when squeezed. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Whisk together 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of milk and stir it into the dough, mixing until just combined. {You might need to knead the dough on a floured countertop if it is not cohesive}.
Divide the dough in half, shape into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and allow to chill for at least 2 hours {or up to 2 days}.
Once the dough has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and allow to chill enough that it is workable. Roll out on a floured surface into a rectangle to approximately 1/8″ thickness. Cut into 3 x4 inch rectangles {these can really be cut into any shape} . Move the rectangles to a sheet pan fitted with a Silpat mat or parchment paper. Beat 1 egg and brush it over the entire surface of half of the dough cutouts. This will be the “inside” of the pop tart – the egg is used as the glue to attach the top and bottom together. Place a tablespoon of whatever filling you prefer into the center of the tart {I used raspberry jam, nutella and chocolate chips – all were equally delicious!}.  Leave a barrier of a 1/2 inch around the perimeter. Place a the “top” of the pop tart on top of the filling, and using your finger, seal the dough on all sides. You can press with a fork around all of the edges to seal fully. Prick the top of each tart multiple times with a fork – you want to make sure that all of the team can escape. Refrigerate the tarts for 30 minutes and then bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees until light golden brown.
Happy Baking!
For a printer-friendly version of this recipe click here: Homemade Pop Tarts
xoxo,
Ali

Thursday, April 12th, 2012

Cakery Friday: Lemon Mousse Cups

I love lemon… anything! Especially lemon curd. And when you add some whipped cream to that curd, do you know what you end up with? Lemon Mousse. Also know as: dessert perfection. It’s light and airy and so, so tasty. This mousse has the perfect amount of lemon, not too overpowering, nor too weak. It’s justtttttt right. The best part about the mousse is that it can be made in advance and served straight from the refrigerator.

Gather all of the ingredients.

To make the lemon curd:

Combine 3 egg yolks, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and the zest of one lemon in a sauce pan. Cook over medium/low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring continuously, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. {This is actually a lot more obvious than you would think, the consistency clearly changes}

Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of butter that has been diced into small pieces. Adding a few pieces at a time.

Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly over the curd and allow to chill completely.

To make the whipped cream:

Place 1 cup of whipping cream into the bowl of your electric mixer {or you can use a handheld mixer…. or you could actually just use a whisk, but this requires lots of muscles} add in 2 tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Whisk to stiff peaks. Gently fold in the lemon curd.

Finally, I made these adorable white chocolate bowls to present the lemon mousse. They are so simple! I took a few cupcake wrappers and gently spread in melted candy melts {you could use melted white chocolate chips too, but the melts do not need to be tempered and hold up very well}. Allowed them to harden. And easily cut away the cupcake wrapper leaving just the chocolate bowl. Genius!

Pipe {or spoon} the lemon mousse into the cups and garnish with some lemon zest. Voila! Cutest little mousse cups around!

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe click here: Lemon Mousse Cups

Happy Baking!

xoxo,

Ali

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

Cakery Friday: Mistake Cookies

These cookies were a mistake. A great mistake. I have been attempting {without success} to re-create cookies a friend used to make. They had somewhat of a shortbread outside and chocolate inside. The thing is, no matter what I try, mine do not seem to taste like hers. So I experiment over and over. And then one day, I make something that tastes RIDICULOUS. I actually left them lying around and my brother and his friends devoured the entire tray. They taste nothing like the cookies I was attempting to make. These actually might be better!

To make these chocolate-filled “Mistake Cookies” you start with your favorite sugar cookie recipe, I used this one.

Roll your dough out to between 1/4 of an inch to 1/8 of an inch. Using a round cutter, cut a top and a bottom for the cookie.

Using a mellon baller {or your fingers} shape a ball of chocolate ganache, I used this recipe without adding the mint {but could be fun for next time}!

Place the ball of ganache on the bottom of the cookie and, using your fingers, gently press the top layer together with the bottom layer. Creating a seal. And trapping the chocolate goodness inside.

Bake for 10-12 minutes {until golden brown} and allow to cool.

Eat away!

xoxo,

Ali