Under New Management....sort of.

Needed to share this just because it is that funny.

While baking Jacki's birthday cake tonight Anthony walks into my room asking me if I'm going to bake more tonight.

Of course I wasn't because it was already 10pm and if I started anything I would be up till 3 in the morning.

Anthony points out though that he only had one of the baguettes I made last week and that I need to get on it and that he would subsidize my flour thus making him management and me hired help. It was then pointed out he should see if Duke would allow him to count managing my baking as credit toward our management/leadership requirements for graduation.

Oh what fun. How I heart the roommate.

Anyway. Jacki's chocolate cake looks like a came out perfectly. After all the cake called for a little over 3 sticks of butter!

Will post the recipe and pictures later as tomorrow/Wednesday I have to make Jake his going away/congrats you got a job chocolate chocolate chip pound cake and some time soon I have to make baguettes again for Anthony.

Ok. Off to bed now.

Can't Wait for Sunday!

This is going to go with my two cups of coffee tomorrow morning while I read about regression discontinuity design studies. Oh what fun! Seriously should have gone to culinary school instead. At least I have my retirement plan. Work straight after grad school for 25 years. Retire early. Open up a bake shop and do policy consulting on the side. I can name my bake shop Baking Policy!


Ok. Enough fun for tonight. Tomorrow if I still feel the need to procrastinate I'll probably end up making cinnamon bread, more baguettes, or banana bread. We shall see what happens.

Sunday brunch calls for Biscotti

Every time I head to a coffee shop to read/get some work done my usual order is a coffee and almond biscotti. I am seriously getting addicted to this combination.

I also knew that Dorie Greenspan had a biscotti recipe. This weeks hunt for a recipe concentrated around finding it. And I finally did. Will be making these later tonight so I can have a cup of coffee and almond biscotti with my brunch tomorrow!

Here is the recipe. Will post pictures from my adventure when I'm done with it.

Cheers!

Almond Biscotti
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Yield: about 24-30 cookies
Ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup yellow cornmeal
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1½ tsp. almond extract
¾ cup sliced almonds, blanched or unblanched

Directions:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the cornmeal and whisk again to blend.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed for 3 minutes, until very smooth. Add the eggs and continue to beat, scraping down the bowl as needed, for another 2 minutes or until the mixture is light, smooth and creamy. Beat in the almond extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they are incorporated. The dough will be sticky. Scrape down the paddle and bowl, add in the sliced almonds and mix just until blended in.

Scrape half of the dough onto one side of the baking sheet. Using a rubber spatula or your fingers (I like to cover my hand with lightly oiled plastic wrap), form the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 1½ inches wide. The log will be rectangular, with a bumpy and uneven surface. Form a second similar log on the other side of the baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the logs are lightly golden but still soft and springy to the touch. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and cool the logs on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.

(If you turned the oven off, return it to 350° F.) Using a long serrated knife, cut the logs into 1-inch thick slices. Turn the slices so that they stand on their sides, and return the sheet to the oven.

Bake the biscotti for another 15-20 minutes, or until they are golden and firm. Transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.

Source: adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

For Mom: Homemade baguette and okra etouffee

Just pictures:

Bourbon vanilla extract and a buckeye. Definitely had more fun making the vanilla extract. Love the smell of bourbon. Sadly the extract won't be ready for use till late November.


Buckeye Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 4 ounces plus 3 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 to 4 cups confectioners sugar, about 1 pound
• 1/2 cup very fine graham cracker crumbs
• 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

With a wooden spoon or large mixer with paddle attachment, beat peanut butter, butter and vanilla until smooth. Slowly stir or beat in confectioners' sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Mixture will be dry, but will hold together when shaped into balls. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls; place on wax paper lined cookie sheet and chill in freezer or until firm.

Melt chocolate chips over hot water. Spear a peanut butter ball with toothpick or dipping fork and dip ball into the chocolate to cover most of it. Place chocolate side down on cookie sheet. If desired, leave the top uncovered to resemble the Ohio buckeye nuts. If desired, drizzle more butter over the balls to fill in gaps made by toothpick or dipping fork. Refrigerate buckeyes for about 2 hours or longer, or until the chocolate is set. Store buckeyes tightly covered in refrigerator or freezer.

Makes about 5 dozen buckeye candies.

A quickie

Bourbon and vanilla beans are sitting in bottle. Who knew vanilla beans cost so much?

Buckeyes turned out great. And OSU beat Navy!

Will post recipes and pictures tomorrow when I do banana bread. Also thinking about doing baguettes.

Ok. Out for now!

Fall Things To Do

Go apple picking so I can:
1) make apple pie
2) make apple sauce to make apple sauce bread and spice bars

Go pumpkin picking so I can:
1) make pumpkin pie

Seriously need to do these things cause during the summer didnt go blueberry or strawberry picking to make things.