Toffee

This week I made toffee, it's pretty quick if you have time to stand in one spot and stir hot butter sugar for awhile. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (two sticks) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4-6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (pecans, almonds, ect.)
• Candy thermometer

Directions:

Gather ingredients.

Chop chocolate and nuts. Put parchment paper or a silicone baking mat on a large baking sheet. If you use parchment paper dab butter on the corners before putting it on the baking sheet. 

Melt, and stir butter and sugar in a pot over medium heat, add water. Use a pot that can handle the expansion of the mixture as it cooks. Keep stirring!

Once the butter and sugar are mixed together, turn down heat to low, continuing to stir. The toffee will start to expand at this point, depending on the stove. Still stirring.

Once the toffee reaches 300F on the candy thermometer, or if it is a light caramel brown color, remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Pour onto the prepared baking sheet spread it around with a knife or rubber spatula, not too thin, not too thick.

put chocolate chips on the hot toffee and let them melt. spread the chocolate evenly on the surface of the toffee. Sprinkle nuts over the chocolate.

Put toffee in the fridge for at least an hour, or until cooled completely. Once chilled break into pieces and serve.

My Experience:

This toffee recipe is the best one I've tried. It is pretty simple, and it makes amazing toffee. I always end up burning myself or pouring hot sugar on me so definitely be careful. I wrote this recipe out of memory, so if there is a part that doesn't seem right, please let me know!

Enjoy!xx

Mexican Wedding Cakes

This is a recipe I have been making for a long time, I've made these cookies countless times, they are quick and easy!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pecans (or walnuts, almonds, ect..)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour, sifted

Directions:

Gather ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350

Toast pecans (walnuts, almonds) on a cookie sheet in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes. After they are toasted, place them on a cutting board and chop until very fine. Let them cool. The  nuts should be chopped very finely, almost like flour.

In the mixer, beat butter until fluffy and well blended. Add salt, powdered sugar and vanilla. Then add the cooled nuts.

Gradually sift the flour over the mixture as you mix. Mix until well blended. Refrigerate until firm, if time allows. This takes about 10 minutes or so. Firm the dough into 1-inch balls.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Mine took about 12 minutes. Roll hot cookies in powdered sugar.

My Experience:

These cookies are super easy, and very yummy. I have been experimenting with them, adding cinnamon or a different kind of nut. You can add all kinds of ingredients, like dried cranberries, coconut shreds, fruit zests, anything. This recipe make very many cookies, 15 at tops. I recommend doubling the recipe if you want to bring these to a party!

Enjoy!xx 

Red Velvet Cake

This recipe is from a book called "bon appetit" I have never made this type of cake before.
Ingredients:
Cake:

• 2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted then measured)
• 2 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon red food colouring
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs

Frosting:

• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• various toppings

Directions

Gather ingredients.

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. I didn't have the correct size cake pans so I had to make it a larger, one layer cake. If you had  to do what I did you could have cut the cake into layers.

Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk (in a different, smaller bowl), buttermilk, food colouring, vinegar and vanilla to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in dry ingredients alternatively with the buttermilk mixture. Divide between prepared pans.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 27 minutes. Cool pans on racks for 10 minutes. Cut around pan sides to loosen cakes. Turn cakes onto racks; cool completely.

Frosting:

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in Vanilla. Add sugar and blend until smooth. This is much easier if the cream cheese and butter are softened. 

Frost cake, and decorate however you want.

My Experience:

This was my first time making red velvet cake, it was pretty easy. I had no idea there was vinegar in it though. Everyone seemed to like it. It wasn't my favourite thing to make though. I definitely have room to improve with this recipe.

Enjoy!xx

Chocolate No Bake Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe is not out of my usual cookbook.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cup quick-cooking oatmeal

Directions:

Gather ingredients.

Combine sugar, milk, cocoa, and butter in a saucepan.

Cook over medium heat for two minutes, stirring constantly to prevent sticking.

Remove from heat.

Add vanilla, mix well.

Add oatmeal and blend thoroughly. (DO NOT USE INSTANT OATMEAL)

Let cool, do not bake, cookies are ready to enjoy.

My Experience:

These cookies are very easy to make, and require little skill. My mom used to make these cookies when she was little, and made them for me when I was little. They are definitely one of my favourites!

Enjoy!xx

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

I wanted to do an easier thing this week so I just made cookies, they aren't from my usual recipe book.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 2/3 cups peanut butter chips

Directions:

Gather ingredients.

Heat oven to 350

Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. gradually add flour mixture, beating well, stir in (by hand) chips. Make sure the butter is softened, it will make everything much much easier.

Drop rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. This makes a lot of cookies.

Bake 8 to 9 minutes. Cool slightly. Remove from sheet onto wire rack. Cool completely. Don't over bake the cookies or else they wont be chewy.

My Experience.

This was easy for me, I have made these cookies plenty of times before. They turned out a little different though. Usually they flatten, but this time they stayed perfectly round. I don't know what happened, but they turned out like that. Very easy recipe, but be careful it makes A LOT of cookies. around 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!xx

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

So I was involved in a secret Santa and I thought that Chocolate dipped strawberries would be a cool gift to give! This is not a recipe from the book I usually get recipes from, but yeah.

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces of semi sweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 ounces of white chocolate
• 1 pound of strawberries with stems, washed and dried very well.
• Various toppings, sprinkles, chopped nuts, ect.

Directions:

Put the semisweet and white chocolates into two separate heat proof medium bowls.

Fill two medium saucepans with 1-2 inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off heat, set the bowls of chocolate over the water to melt. Stir until smooth. The chocolate may take a little while to melt. 

Once the chocolates are melted and smooth, remove from heat. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or wax paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem dip the fruit into the semisweet chocolate or white chocolate, lift and twist lightly, letting any access chocolate fall back into the bowl. Set the strawberry on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries, drizzle chocolate over them, sprinkle nuts, sprinkles, or other various things on the strawberries. This part was a lot of fun because you really get to be creative here.

My Experience:

I wanted to be more creative with my secret Santa gift rather than buying some cheep dollar store bits and bobs. This turned out to be such a great gift! It was very simple to do. I refrigerated my strawberries because I wanted them to stay hardened until the next morning. I had a lot of fun making these, it was quick and easy! The original recipe doesn't call for any of the nuts or sprinkles that I put in there. I wanted to have them be more creative. 

Enjoy!xx

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• Basic pastry dough (Helpful tips), chilled
• 1 can (15 oz/ 470 g) pumpkin puree 
• 2/3 cup (5 1/2 oz/ 165 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup (8 fl oz/ 250 ml)  heavy (double) cream
• 2 whole large eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 4 teaspoons all-purpose (plain) flour
• 2/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Pinch of ground cloves 
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

Gather ingredients.

Lightly dust a work surface and a rolling pin with flour. Roll out the chilled dough into a 14-inch (35-cm) round about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick. Lift and turn the dough several times as you roll to prevent sticking, and dust the surface and the rolling pin with additional flour as needed. Use a dough scraper or icing spatula to loosen the pastry round if it sticks. This pastry dough has butter in it so make sure the dough is very chilled before trying to roll it out. 

Carefully roll the dough around the pin and position it over a 9-inch (23-cm) pie plate, preferably glass. Unroll the dough and position into the plate, gently but firmly pressing the dough against the sides and bottom while taking care not to pull or stretch it. Trim the edges, leaving a 3/4-inch (2-cm) overhang. Roll the overhang under itself to create a high edge on the plates rim. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Whenever I have made pastry dough there never seems to be enough to create an overhang of sorts. On some pie plates there is a grooved edge that will make the top of the pie crust fluted automatically. I had to work really hard to get the dough in the pie plate because the dough got really soft.

Preheat the oven to 425F (220C). Line the frozen crust with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights, uncooked rice, or dried beans. I used black eyed peas instead of pie weights. 

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and foil and continue to bake until the shell is golden brown, 4-5 minutes longer. Let the shell cool completely on a rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 325F (165C) Mine took a bit longer to bake until golden brown.

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cream, whole eggs and egg yolk, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt and whisk until smooth. Pour into the crust. This was the easiest part for me, add everything and mix!

Bake the pie until the filling is set but the center still jiggles slightly when the pie plate is gently shaken. About 50 minutes, longer if using a metal pan. Let cool completely on rack. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. Mine took 70 minutes to bake, time differs depending on the type of oven. 

Helpful Tips:

Basic Pastry Dough:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup (5 1/4 oz/175 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (2 oz/60 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 3/4-inch (2-cm) pieces
• 3 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening 
• 3 tablespoons very cold water

Directions:

To make the dough, in a food processor combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl. Pulse to blend. Add the shortening and pulse until reduced to 1/2-inch (12-mm) pieces. Add the water a little at a time, and pulse until the dough just comes together in a rough mass. It only took 1 tablespoon of water to give it the right consistency for me. 

Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

My Experience:

I had a very limited time to make this when I did. It turned out really good though, better than I expected. I got really frustrated with the pressure I was under to finish baking the pie. I'm sure I would have had a better time if I got to relax a little bit.