Happy Birthday! To Me!

Today is my birthday! 31! Wow! Didn't do too much today, volunteered for a few hours at HIP Housing where I am helping out every week. Then went to Micheal's Craft shop to look around at new things. Then I came home and started making my cake! The sweet and salty cake from Baked! It turned out so yummy! The one thing I forgot to do was put the Carmel Ganache in between the layers! But, it turned out so yummy! Check the picture out! So mine does not look like the picture,but it sure tastes yummy! I will post the recipe if anyone requests it, its a long one!

Read the Directions!

When I was in Bali, I took a cooking class. The first thing the chef said was read the recipe all the way through before you start. I thought to myself, that is such a basic request, I kind of laughed at the idea. Because, I have been cooking and baking and always scan through the recipe before I begin. After the goof of making brownies last week, I will ALWAYS read through the WHOLE recipe before beginning! Anther thing I will do is not assume things! Growing up when my mom would make brownies she would use a 8x8 pan, so I have been doing the same thing. So, when I made a recipe for brownies out of "Baked" I assumed that the recipe called for a 8x8 pan, but in fact in called for a 9x13 pan! That would explain the gooey middle that I discovered when I was trying to cut the brownies out of the pan and it was a complete mess I figured it out! But, the taste was so tasty that I ignored the gooey and still enjoyed the mess!

Thank you!

While we were gone in Bali, we needed to have someone watch Eli. Luckily, we have the best cat sitter right upstairs! Our neighbor, Lana has three cats and she loves animals! As a thank you I made her a lemon loaf from the book, Baked. This book is from the bakery in Brooklyn called, "Baked". The recipes look outrageously good!
Here is the recipe, I changed it a little because of a short of ingredients!
It actually turned out very yummy!

For the cake:
1 cup cake flour
2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups of sugar
5 large eggs
1/3 cup lemon zest
1 cup of unsalted butter melted
1/2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup creme fraiche
2 teaspoons vanilla

Lemon Syrup
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350
Spray the pans with nonstick cooking spray.
Sift both flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together

Put the sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse until combined. With the motor running, drizzle the butter in the feed tube. Add the sour cream and vanilla and pulse until combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

Sprinkle the flour mixture, one third at a time, folding gently after each addition until just combined.
Divide the mixture into pans and put in oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, rotate the pans, and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

While the cake is baking, mix the the lemon syrup. Add sugar and lemon juice together on high until sugar is completely dissolved.

**If you would like the original recipe you can get the book, Baked. Wonderful pictures and easy instructions.

Back from Bali!

So, I am back from a wonderful vacation in Bali. What can I say, but it was wonderful! The people are so nice, the food was excellent and the beaches were fabulous! For one day I took a cooking class from the Rumah Bali. Chef Heinz von Holzen hosted this class starting at 6am with a trip to the traditional vegetable market, then to the fish market and off to the Rumah Bali to have a day of cooking traditional Balinese food. This was one of the best experiences that I have been through. We cooked several dishes and I walked away with a booklet of recipes that I hope to make for my friends and family. Above is a picture of all the foods we prepared, everything was so yummy! I am having friends over next week and will try some recipes out on them so we will see if I can duplicate what I made in this beautiful place!

Off to Bali!!

So, Johnny and I leave for Bali in about four hours! We have to be at the airport at 10:30 for a 1:30am departure to Tapaei! 13 hours later we arrive to have a layover and arrive to Bali at 2:20 Monday afternoon. By 3pm we can be at the beach!!! I am so excited to be going on a vaction, we haven't been on one in two summers! I am a little nervous because I was laid of a few months ago and don't have a job, but our mortgage and credit card bills will be paid so, we are off! Anyways, traveling to different countries is the best part of life, learning about new culturals and the way other people live. I am so excited! I will try to post while over there, but it may a bit hard... Happy eating and do something creative everyday!!! The things I will miss the most is our cat, Eli and Sunday morning pancakes! What would you miss when you go on vacation?

A Wedding Shower

A few weeks ago a friend was throwing a wedding shower for friend's daughter. The theme was a English Tea Party because of her English roots! I helped make scones, tea cookies, shortbread and Madelines. For the party favor I gave the guests tea and cookies! I had so much fun baking all these cookies.
Here is the recipe for the Rose Water Madeleines that I found on Martha Stewart's website:

• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and room temperature
• 1 tablespoon rose water
• 2 to 3 tablespoons sanding sugar
• Pink powdered food color, any shade
• Butter-flavored cooking spray

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In electric mixer, beat eggs and 1/2 cup granulated sugar on medium until light, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Fold in flour mixture. Fold in butter. Cover with plastic; chill for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat oven to 425 degrees.place rack in center. Spray two scallop-shell pans with cooking spray. Use spoon to fill molds three-quarters full. Bake 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degrees. Bake 5 to 8 minutes more, until lightly golden. Immediately tap out madeleines onto a cooling rack. (Let madeleines cool scallop side up to avoid any creases or lines from rack.) Repeat with remaining batter. Let cool.
4. Make rose-water syrup by combining remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar; reduce to a simmer, and cook over low heat 2 to 3 minutes to combine. Set aside to cool. When cool, stir in rose water. Set aside.
5. Place sanding sugar in a small bowl. Use a toothpick to add small amounts of powdered food color to sanding sugar, stirring until you get desired shade of pink.
6. Use a small paint brush to sugar edges of madeleines one at a time; dip brush into rose-water syrup, and paint rim of each madeleine. Sprinkle sanding sugar over damp edges. Repeat on remaining madeleines. Madeleines are best served within 1 to 2 days of baking. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

It was really hard to find the rose water but I found it at a Mediterranean Market.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday- America!!

Today is the 4th of July! I am down in Carmel Valley near Monterrey, CA. I am enjoying the weekend with my husband, mom and sister and her family. We are having a great time. When I return home I will post some cool pictures of items I have made in the last few days.

Happy Birthday, America!!!