happie world nutella day!

not many people know this, but this girl actually has a nutella & peanut butter sandwich for brekkie almost everyday of the work week. i know you must think i am mad but honestly, i really have not (and will probably not!) ever get tired of the smooth hazelnut chocolate sweetness and salty crunchy peanut butter combination. being world nutella day yesterday (february fifth), i thought i'd pay tribute to the humble hazelnut spread that has fueled many of my days and have contributed to the fun i have messing about in the kitchen!

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christmas kitchen messings - one step at a time!

another one of the reasons why this girl loves christmas, is the fact that it gives me the opportunity to mess about in the kitchen and whip up (at least try to whip up!) some yummy cookies and sweet treats to pass on to good friends as part of the holiday festivities. i would have liked to mess around a little bit more but with everything that was going on, i have only so far managed to work through three new recipes and am hoping to experiment a little bit more the rest of 2009!

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salted butter caramel to go please!

with the ongoing obsession being salted butter caramel, this girl has been scouring the net for all sorts of related recipes...and while i do have to admit that i do churn up a pretty kick ass sbc ice cream, i decided to venture into candy making after stumbling onto an awesome sounding recipe of chez pim's blog.

to be honest, i began really apprehensive because although the ingredients for making the caramels were simple, caramel is quite hard to get perfect as there really is a very very fine line between caramel and burnt sugar! but as luck would have it (although i would like to credit the domestic goddess instincts in me!), i managed the entire cooking process like a pro and yielded a tub full of yummy salty, sweet and slightly chewy caramels. i do have to work on the packing and presentation (blush!) but these little candies really remind me of the classic chelsea toffee candies growing up...you know those little treats you get when you were on your best behavior? *grin*

can't wait to whip up the next batch of these little tiny treasures so that i can boast of having some salted butter caramels on the go!

salted butter and honey caramels

1 cup (2.5dl) heavy cream
1.5 cups or 300g sugar
1/2 cup (2.5dl) very dark, intense honey, if all you have is milder honey use one cup of honey to one cup of sugar
4oz or 110g salted butter, room temperature
more salt to taste

add sugar and honey into a large non-reactive pot. turn on the heat and let the sugar and honey melt and cook until caramelized, that is to say change to a deep, dark brown color. shake the pot if necessary to get all the sugar crystals to melt, but don't stir.

while the sugar is cooking, bring the cream to a simmer.

when the sugar reaches the color you like, whisk in the butter in small knobs, until well mixed, then add the warmed cream, whisk until smooth. let the mixture cook until the temperature reaches 260f or 125c.

pour the hot caramel onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silpad. let cool until you can touch it, then cut into small squares, roll, and wrap in packets of parchment or waxed paper.

enjoy!

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muffin munchkin

my very first attempt at muffins, from first principle (betty crocker's instant mixes don't quite count!) and to be really honest, i am quite pleased with myself! its been two days since i baked them and one tunch and two brekkies later, i have to admit, these blueberry munchkins were still moist and yummy, even without pre-heating and knob of butter! (i get lazy in the office *blush*)

the recipe i was actually eyeing was one in the book 'baking: one step at a time' by marianne magnier moreno as it not only had step by step instructions to making the little beauties, but step by step little pictures alongside just so that you know how your mixture should look and how brown you should bake them until. useful for a cake klutz like me (been more successful in the cookie and chocolate department...hence explaining the lack there of of posts in the cake and muffin arena!) but i discovered that i bought cream instead of sour cream or creme faiche as requested by the recipe...so i surfed over to the the trusty martha stewart website and found one recipe for blueberry muffins with the exact ingredients i had. i am pretty wowed by the outcome so this girl thought i'd share the recipe just in case anyone reading this gets inspired to have a go at baking a batch up.

blueberry muffins
'from martha stewarts baking handbook'

makes twelve

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

(a) Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius. Generously butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Working over the bowl, toss blueberries in a fine sieve with about 1 1/2 teaspoons flour mixture to lightly coat; set aside the flour mixture and the blueberries.

(b) In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Mix in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add milk, beating until just combined. Do not overmix. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries. Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. If desired, in a small bowl, mix together remaining 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg. Sprinkle sugar mixture on top of muffin batter.

(c) Bake, rotating pan halfway though, until muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Turn muffins on their sides in their cups, and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

easy peasy! i think these are best served up warm with a generous slab of (salted) butter and good cuppa!

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all my favorite things in one cookie!

to be honest, this girl has been messing about in the kitchen almost on a weekly basis and figured that my adventures might be worth a quick blog post - not so much to showcase my culinary skills (or rather the lack there of!) but rather to share with all some pretty cool recipes that i have discovered... especially when my creations don't turn out quite as visually appealing as i would have liked but still manages to pass the taste test! *grin*

so to start the ball somewhat rolling, this past weekend saw me trying to follow a martha stewart peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe. the moment i saw peanut butter, chocolate chips and oatmeal...i was sold (and hence explaining my excitement to share the recipe)! i mean...what more can one ask for in a cookie?

it turned out to be quite an easy recipe. i halved all the proportions just in case the cookies came out horrid, i'd only be stuck with all of 3 dozen cookies! but it turned out considerably well...given the fact that i didn't cream the butter and sugar as well as i would have liked and was slightly over eager with the chunky peanut butter portion. i also did swop the peanuts for raisins just cause we didn't have any at home, which i guess was a good thing if not the cookies might be overly peanutty! the end result was about 20 fairly large sized cookies which were slightly flat (due to the slight overdose on butter/peanut butter *blush*), but were still soft, chewy and tasted pretty good. although quick and somewhat easy, the process is most definitely therapeutic and i guarantee the cookies will brighten anyone's day!

thanks to martha!

makes about 6 dozen

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups salted whole peanuts
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Stir together oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Put sugars, butter, and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low. Add oat mixture, and mix until just combined. Mix in peanuts and chocolate chips.

Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop balls of dough 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. 

Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days.

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just a lil smores

to be honest, i never did see myself as much of a cook...although sometimes, deep down, i really wish i had that magic gene so that maybe i could actually open up a nice cozy little joint that served good coffee and phenomenal desserts. but yes, i do know myself and have resigned to the fact that cooking or rather baking would be more of something i'd do once in a while to spend time with my nephew and or like today, take the down-ness i was feeling away...

been wanting to try this recipe for a bit but subconsciously was afraid to for fear of the amount of work needed. as it turns out, it was really easy and my sis and i didn't even use the kitchen-aid! my first go at smores cupcakes...and of all the cupcake trys i've made, this has finally made it to blog worthy status! yes, there is of course room for improvement (my sis just came in to say that i needed to work the graham crumb base a little bit more!) but i'd dare say that this go at the smores was quite extra-ordinary *grin*

we cheated a little, improvising on the marshmallow bit (jet puff rules!) and chocolate ganache (secret? nestle tollhouse chips)...but it was all good. kinda cool because i think we made it a bit more of our own take on the smores. graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate...three simple ingredients when combined defines the smores taste...and this recipe took this three simple things and made it into an truly yummy sweet thing!

after making seventeen cupcakes and lots of licking off spoons and bowls, this girl's recharged on endorphins. all that was needed was just a lil smores!

graham cracker cupcakes
15 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

1 cup graham cracker crumbs, from 6 whole graham crackers
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs, from 2-1/2 whole graham crackers
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Combine 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.
2. Scoop a heaping teaspoon into each cupcake paper, pressing down to cover the bottom.
3. Beat butter on high speed until soft, about 30 seconds.
4. Add brown sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds after each.
6. Whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
7. Measure out milk and vanilla together.
8. Add about a fourth of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine.
9. Add about one third the milk/vanilla mixture and beat until combined.
10. Repeat above, alternating flour and milk and ending with the flour mixture.
11. Scoop into cupcake papers three-quarters full.
12. Bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
13.Using a small pairing knife, cut off the top of the cupcake in the shape of a cone. Flip the top over and cut off the cone.
14. Fill the cavity with marshmallow fluff.
15. Replace the top of the cone.
16. Scoop a tablespoon of chocolate ganache on top of each cupcake. Smooth with a small offset spatula.

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