Double Chip Espresso Cookies with Toasted Pecans

Work has finally returned to normal levels and I imagine I will soon be instituting my third trimester work hours. It's nice to get home and still have a night to do tasks.  Last week I went to register for the baby shower.  That was a little over whelming.  The people at the store failed to give the buying baby guide of critical things I needed until I was done. Now, I wasn't alone I was with my mom and sister but they had the complete opposite affect of  no list and told me to add this, add this, add this.   I left that store thinking what did I even put on the registry.  All I remember is there were some cute turtle things that did make it on the list. So I have spent last couple nights reviewing my registry adding things, deleting things, changing colours.   I also went online to another store and adding a few different things.   I was much more relaxed for that one.

I do feel a strong sense of organization these days. Could be some early nesting  kicking it but it has made life easier.  My husband and I created a cleaning schedule a few weeks ago, which is long over due and well needed.  Every since this schedule has been in place every thing is just easier.  Maintenance is better and just the sense to keep things cleaner exists since we know what is coming on the weekend.

Every few weeks I need to make chocolate chip cookies. It can be traditional or  just a small variation but I miss them, crave them and need to make them.

Double Chip Espresso Cookies with Toasted Pecans
(adapted from Anna Olson)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose
• 2 tsp espresso powder
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup pecans 
• 1/2 tsp sea salt - optional for mid bake sprinkle. 

INSTRUCTIONS:
1) In a small bowl combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt and espresso powder. In a small saute pan toast pecans on medium heat until fragrant  (3-4 minutes).  Set both aside
2) In a large bowl or mixer bowl cream together butter and sugar until light and well combined.

3) Add egg and vanilla and beat/mix until just combined.   Add flour mixture until almost combined.

4) Fold in pecans and both chocolate chips.  Using a small scoop, place mounds on a parchment/silpat lined baking sheet. Option : Sprinkle a tiny bit of sea salt on to each cookie. 

5) Bake for 8-10 minutes, until cookies  are golden on the edges.  Let cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.    

6) Try not to eat them all at once. 

This was a great variation!  I just love the hint of espresso with the chocolate.  Mind you,  I don't think I have ever not liked any variation, so maybe I am biased but these are cookie-licious.    

MEG's RATING: D-EEEEE-LICIOUS!

Upside Down Caramel Peach Cake

So I have been eating a lot of peaches these days.   I don't think I have gone the last three weeks without my daily mid morning snack of a peach, half a kiwi and some strawberries.   I am also very happy that I can actually still get local strawberries.  I love getting local fruits and veggies.   I do eat a lot of fruit.  Have I ever told you my husband doesn't eat fruit?  He will eat the rare apple or banana but that is very few and far between.    His mom always says he doesn't like fruit because she ate so much of it when she was pregnant.   This better not happen to my child.   I can't be out numbered on people who don't like fruit in this house.   I am pretty sure he is just an odd anomaly.

This weekend we spent a good chunk of Saturday cleaning, which is no fun but I did also baked this dessert.  I like my peaches firm so this gave me the opportunity to use up any that were becoming too soft.   Sunday we attended a large family BBQ for my Mother in laws family and I offered to bring a dessert.  This was quite the gathering.  She has 8 siblings.  Those siblings all have at least 3 or 4 kids and then many of those kids have 2-4 kids.   In short there was A LOT of people there and luckily I was not the only person bringing dessert.  We don't really see them that often,  so I go not really remember everyone's name or what kids belong to them.   My husband was joking with his cousins that we should play a match the kids to the parents game and line them all up and see who can sort it all out. He believes he could. I know I could not. His family is also a very tall family.  Both of my husbands parents are dutch and they are on average the tallest people in the world.   So I often feel quite short at these gatherings in my tiny 5'3 frame.  Lets hope baby picks up on that side of the family in terms of genetic body frame.

UPSIDE DOWN CARAMEL PEACH CAKE
(Adapted from Anna Olson - Bake to Baking)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 peaches
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/4 cup (2 oz) unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp heavy cream

Cake

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp salt

INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Peel and slice the peaches.   Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 inch spring form pan.   Line the bottom of the pan with the peaches.

2) In a small sauce pan, add water, then add sugar and butter.   Bring to a boil over medium heat and let sit with out touching until caramel begins to turn a light amber colour.   Remove from heat and pour over peaches.   They won't be completely covered.
3) Preheat the oven to 350F.   Make the cake :  In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder , salt and cinnamon.
4) In a large bowl or your mixer bowl, beat together butter and sugar until creamy and well combined.
5) Beat in egg yolks, vanilla and sour cream until combined.  Add in flour and mix on low until just incorporated.

6) In a medium bowl, add the egg whites and whisk by hand or with a whisk attachment to your hand mixer, until soft peaks form.    Fold half the eggs in the mixture until almost combined, then repeat with remaining egg whites until all blended together.   Pour mixture over the peaches.

7) Bake for about 45 minutes,  until a toothpick comes out clean.   Let cool in pan for 30 minutes.   Run a knife around the edge.  Place a plate over the pan and then flip upside down, tapping the bottom to release the cake. 

This cake was light and fluffy.  I halved the caramel from the original recipe since I also switched from apples to peaches.  I think it worked out well though it had the perfect level of sweetness. 

MEG's RATING : D-EEEE-LICIOUS!

Five Friday Pin Up - Aug 17

So I think I am starting to see a light at the end of the work tunnel.   I might actually be able to bake and blog on a regular basis again.  It's a very exciting thought as my list of baking ideas is ever growing.  Within the last week though we have also completed our family room renos so now the only thing left to focus on is the baby room.  The pictures I ordered from Etsy should hopefully be arriving soon and I ordered some decals from this cute website (Weedecor), this week.   So things are coming together on the baby front.  Instead of baking or blogging this week I also have been doing my research on strollers and searching out deals for certain items.  No worries though I definitely have some baking on the schedule for this weekend, along with cleaning and two family BBQs.   I should be able to leave work at noon today, so I will make a quick trip to the cake store to stock up on some items for two upcoming cake/cupcake orders, maybe a new baking toy for me and then finish off the afternoon with some baking.   YEAH!

The tricky thing with having no time to blog or just being to tired too is that you can lose track of even blog following.   I have been fairly good though at finding the time to read my favorite blogs and find new ones.  My twitter is very neglected but I have been able to keep up with some random pinning.   Here are some recent favorites and I promise I will have some new posts out soon.

1) Caramel Cheesecake Apple Dip by Cooking Classy : http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756331119884/

2) Caramel Apple Pretzels by Crazy for Crust: http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756331129375/

3) Blueberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars by A Farmgirl Dabbles : http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756331129307/

4) Raspberry White Chocolate Coconut Truffles by Texanerin Baking : http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756331129416/

5) Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Fritters by Scarletta Bakes : http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756331129341/


Have a SWEET weekend and I look forward to getting back on track.

Cookie Dough Sandwiches and more Gender Reveal Ideas

Last weekend was a well needed long weekend. I got one extra day of rest, much loved rest I will say as well.   Not that we were resting all weekend and I still ended up doing a few hours of work on Monday when I shouldn't have been but that is how it goes sometimes.  We would normally go away for the weekend to our cottage or a friends cottage but this weekend we spent half in town prepping and painting our family room and half at my Dad's boat.   We decided to do some rearranging in our house in preparation for baby and knowing I spend a large majority of my time in the kitchen, it only made sense to have a room right off the kitchen for baby to play and sleep.    I can train my baby to sleep through a stand mixer, right??

I also started (finished last night) project wallpaper removal in the babies room.  When we moved into the house 3 years ago it was already set up as a baby's room with Winnie the Pooh decor.  We didn't bother redecorating and made our guests sleep in a Winnie the Pooh room.    I don't want Winnie the Pooh any more for the babies room so  I will be changing the room to turtles.   I happened to develop a new addiction to Etsy and found so many cute baby decor pictures, (a new purse, baby hats and on and on)  Lots of cute stuff.

I did two other gender reveal desserts for two different groups of friends.  One I did cake pops and instead of red velvet I made them pink velvet and you had to bite in to see what colour.

Pink Velvet Cake Pops

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 recipe for 12 cupcakes. 
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups cream cheese icing
• 2 - 2 1/2 cups dark chocolate
• Pink/Blue coloured chocolate - just a tiny bit for decor lines

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Bake the cupcake recipe in a 9x13 pan adjusting cook time for 9x13 and not cupcakes.  A toothpick should come out clean.   Let cool , then crumble in a large bowl. 

2) Add in the icing and mix together.   Form into 1 inch balls. 

3) Freeze the balls in a container until ready for dipping. 

4) Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler.   Take out a few cake pops at a time. Place them on a candy stick or skewer and roll in the chocolate.  Tapping off the excess, very gently.

5) Place in styrofoam to dry.   When all are complete, melt the coloured chocolate in small bowls on the microwave, only 10-15 secs at a time, stirring after each time.   Drizzle on the cake pops using a fork or using a piping bag with a small tip.

Chocolate Cookie Dough Sandwiches. 

INGREDIENTS:

Cookies

• 1 box cake mix
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup butter

Cookie Dough - No sugar added

(Adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie)

• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/3 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Reveal center

• 1/2 cup your favorite icing - dyed pink or blue

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Place the dates in a 2 cup measuring cup and add the water to let soak for minimum 2 hours. 

2) In a large bowl or your mixer bowl, beat together cake mix, eggs and butter.  Using a small scoop turn the  cake batter dough into cookie rounds,  place at least 1 1/2 inch apart.  Bake for 12-14 minutes. 

3) Remove from oven let cool on pan for a minute or two , then place on a wire rack to cool completely. 

4) Make the cookie dough.  Add chickpeas, dates (less some of the water), almond butter, ground almonds and vanilla into a food processor.   Run together until all smooth and well combined.   Add in chocolate chips and pulse a few times.    Place in the fridge in a sealed container to chill for a bit.

5) Assemble the sandwiches.   Match up the cookies in pairs.   Place a heaping tablespoon of the dyed icing into the very center.  Add the cookie dough into a large piping bag with a plain circle tip and pipe around the icing center.  Gently press another cookie on top.   Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in a airtight container in the fridge.

Note:  You can omit the icing center and just use the cookie dough as the entire center. 

I am completely obsessed with this cookie dough.   I make it weekly and use it to eat on its own, even with celery and carrots.  I know that sounds weird, but I figure its actually fairly healthy so it can go with certain veggies.

All of my friends made their predictions and then enjoyed the surprise.   Making all these random desserts is definitely a fun way to tell everyone what you are having.  It brings some excitement back for those who think you should wait for the surprise at the end of nine months.

MEG's RATING : D-EEEEE-LICIOUS!

Gender Reveal Cream Puffs

I will eventually stop complaining about my crazy work load but that is probably only when it has actually stopped and getting out even one post a week is not a struggle.   Exhausted!  I apologize now for any spelling mistakes.   I am off to put some cucumbers on my eyes.

Anyway.....

So I obviously took the opportunity to tell people what the sex of the baby is by using desserts.  This seemed the only logical step for a mostly dessert food blogger like myself.   The fun thing as well is that I didn't have one single function where I was telling everyone so I was able to make several different desserts to spread the word.
All my reveals have been staggered over the last several weeks so I have been unable to post any of the desserts until the last reveal was done.   The real trick is to come up with a dessert than involves hiding something inside a dessert.  It has been lots of fun!!
This was the first dessert I did for the In-laws,  I also think one of my favorite.

Gender Reveal Cream Puffs

(adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

INGREDIENTS:

Cream Puffs

• 5 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp milk
• 6 tbsp water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 large eggs + 1 large egg white

Pastry Cream

• 1/2 cup 18% cream
• 1 cup milk (I used almond milk)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• coloured food paste

Dark Chocolate for Dipping - sorry I forget how much now. 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1) In a medium sauce pan combine milk, water butter, salt and sugar.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring only a few times.

2) Preheat the oven to 425F. Combine eggs in a measuring cup and whisk together.

3) Once the mixture in the saucepan comes to a boil and butter is fully melted,  remove from heat right away and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon or spatula.  Mixture should be well combined and coming clear from the sides of the pan.

4) Return the sauce pan to low heat, stirring and smearing constantly until the mixture becomes slightly shiny. It will sort of look like wet sand and you will see some tiny fat beads on the bottom of the pan.   Just a few minutes - paste should measure 175-180F.

5) Once the paste is ready add this to a food processor and run for a few seconds to cool the paste.   With the machine running add in the eggs in a steady slow stream.    Scrape down the sides then process for another 30 seconds until paste is thick and sticky.

6) Place the mixture into a large piping bag with a circle tip.   Pipe 1 1/2 inch rounds about 1 inch apart.  Using the back of a spoon or your finger dipped in cold water to even out the top and peaks of the mounds.
Bake 15 minutes, do not open door, then reduce to 375F and continue to bake about 8-10 more minutes.  Puffs should be golden and firm.

7) Remove from the oven, using a small pairing knife cut a small slit in each, return to then oven and turn off heat.   Let puffs dry out for 30-45 minutes.   Remove from oven and let cool completely, store in an air tight container until ready to fill. 

8) Make the pastry cream :  Heat the cream, milk, 1/4 cup sugar and salt in a medium sauce pan, (heavy bottomed is best) over medium heat until simmering, stirring off and on to dissolve sugar. 

9) While waiting for the simmering whisk the egg yolks together in a medium bowl, with remaining sugar and salt until mixture is creamy and sugar dissolved. Whisk in the cornstarch until pale and thick.

10) When the milk/cream mixture is simmering, slowly whisk about 1/2-3/4 cup into the eggs to temper them.   Return the mixture to the sauce pan and return the mixture to a simmer, scraping down the pan and stirring with a spatula.   Mixture will become thickened and glossy, about 30 secs to a 1 minute.

13) Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, butter and needed food paste colour.  Strain the cream through a fine mesh strainer.    Cover the mixture with saran wrap, directly to the cream to prevent any film from developing and refrigerate until cold and set.

14) When ready fill a small piping bag in a small circle tip with the pasty cream.   Gently open up the cream puffs using the small slight created early fill the cream puff with the cream. Repeat with all puffs.

14) Melt chocolate over a double boiler on low heat.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Dip the cream puffs into the chocolate, covering any showing of the coloured pastry cream.   Let dry completely.
15) Serve and SURPRISE

These are a great idea for a gender reveal dessert.  Pretty easy to hide the cream.   I made all of the participants bite at the same time so that they were all surprised together.   Unfortunately one bite for someone led to some reveal cream ending up on her shirt but it was very exciting.   It was fun to have everyone make their predictions, even our niece and nephew were quite excited to see what was inside.

So as you can see we are having a GIRL! Very exciting and I am now looking forward to decorating and buying cute little dresses and outfits.  

This was another gender reveal dessert we did for some friends as a last minute meeting.   I had some cookie mix that came with a mini cast iron pan so I made the dough and hid in some pink chocolate pieces and then covered it so the pink baked inside and they had to cut in to find out.    This could also be done with brownies or other cookies as well.   I like my cute questions mark on top.

I also did two more gender reveal desserts so watch for the next post for some more ideas.