Revisiting Macarons…

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baking, BraveTart, cookies, French, gluten-free, macarons, pastry cream, strawberry, vanilla

(Let the length of this post be a confirmation: making macarons is a sickness.)

Fire up the TARDIS, we’re going back in time!

In June, I made Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies for Frosting for the Cause in honor of my Aunt Tammy.  While very delicious, they weren’t actually my original idea of what to make!

I had asked my Uncle Mark what his wife’s favorite dessert was, and he said she liked crème brûlée.  YUM!  The only problem was that whatever I made needed to be donated to a hospice center, and crème brûlée isn’t the friendliest dessert for doing so.  Some mental problem solving came up with the following: Strawberrry Macarons with Crème Brûlée Filling!  Not only would they have my aunt’s favorite dessert in them, they’d be pink.  Perfect!

Well, not so fast there, buddy.  Up until that point, I had only made four batches of macarons in two sessions.  They were quite good (I thought) for my first tries, but I had by no means mastered them.  (I posted about the first attempts here!) But then I ran across Stella of BraveTart‘s method via Mardi of Eat, Travel, Write.  Her no-fuss approach to macaron-making instantly appealed to me and gave me the confidence to be wild ‘n crazy.  Bonus: her recipe included a strawberry variation!  Macarons it was.  

Moose Tracks Ice Cream

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candy, chocolate, frozen, fudge, gluten-free, ice cream, Moose Tracks, peanut butter, recipes, summer, vanilla

It’s been a dream of my dad’s to renovate* an old Airstream and drive across the US to see the national parks.  (*This would be one sweet ride…he is a master craftsman!)  Since this hasn’t happened yet, my parents flew up to Wyoming a few years ago to explore Yellowstone for a couple weeks.

I like to tease my dad about that hat.  (photo by my mom, I’m assuming!)

While there, he found a beer that he really liked: Moose Drool Brown Ale by Big Sky Brewing Co. in Montana.  My sister and I were a bit shocked I think because he’s always been a Miller Light (eww) drinker.  I’m pretty sure he tried the Drool purely because of its name…

Balsamic Strawberry Stracciatella Ice Cream

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balsamic vinegar, chocolate, desserts, frozen, gluten-free, ice cream, recipes, stracciatella, strawberries, vanilla

I know it’s still snowing in some places.  It would even snow into mid-May where I last lived.  I always say I’d rather be hot than cold…but right now, I wish it would cool down a bit.  90 degree weather shouldn’t be allowed in April.  And actually, we had some in March.  That’s just indecent.

Now I can’t control the weather, but what I can do is make ice cream.  It’s really easy and doesn’t require the use of an oven, which is a huge bonus when the A/C is already going full blast.  And satisfying, in the obvious delicious way and the “I’m totally a badass because I just made ice cream” way.

Aside from being a (sweaty) fan of ice cream, I had 8 egg yolks and a pound of strawberries (ha, whoops!) left over from making strawberry cake.  Ice cream was a no brainer, as was making something that wasn’t just plain ol’ strawberry.  I can’t even remember how Google led me to this recipe of Balsamic Strawberry Ice Cream, but it clearly had to be made. 

Daring Bakers’ Challenge: Panna Cotta and Florentine Cookies!

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agar agar, chocolate, coconut, crunchy cookies, curry, Daring Bakers, fail, florentines, ginger, mango, panna cotta, vanilla, vegan, vegetarian

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen.  She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

I completed this challenge on three separate days, beginning with the cookies.

I’ve had florentines before, but hadn’t ever made them.  They were always filed away in my brainbox as fancy cookies, so I was really surprised by just how easy they were to make!

Since I was planning to make two different kinds of panna cottas, I divided the dough in half for two different kinds of florentines.  To the first half, I added 2 tablespoons of smashed crystallized ginger.  Then I added 6 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the other half.  Mmm, yep.

Bundts Gone Wild: Zebra Bundt Cake!

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baking, bundt cake, chocolate, ganache, recipes, vanilla, weird, zebra cake

Several months ago, I found out about zebra cakes and they’ve been on my to-bake list ever since.  I mean, how awesome do they look?  If you haven’t seen them before, do a google image search and you’ll see what I mean.

Rachel, one of my best friends, just had a birthday a couple weeks ago.  I thought she’d really like a zebra cake since she also likes to bake fun things, and besides, who wouldn’t?  Since she teaches 1st grade, she was inundated with all sorts of sweets on her big day, so it’s actually a good thing that she got her cake belatedly from me. :)