A Week in Paris

Choclate tart from Fauchon

You may or may not have noticed that I have been MIA for a little while. Well, it's because I went to Paris last week. For those of you who don't know, I have my bachelor's degree in French and I studied abroad for 9 months in college. I then returned to France after receiving my degree and spent 7 months as a teaching assistant. Needless to say, during my time in France, I developed a love affair with French food and wine. And pastries. And chocolate.

Yellow always makes me happy

So why did I go to Paris this time? Mainly, I needed to get away. It had been a year and a half since my last vacation and I was just itching to get out of my hometown. Wanderlust seems to be embedded in my DNA, so I tend to get a bit stir-crazy if I go for to long without any travelling. I had also been missing France quite a bit, and when I saw a good deal on airfare, I jumped at the opportunity.

Drops

My other goal in going to Paris was to eat. And drink, but mostly eat. And eat I did, as you will see by these pictures (though I realize that there is no evidence that I consumed any of this food, but I am sure you know me well enough by now to know that I cannot look at food like this and not eat it). I ate plenty of pastries (some of which were eaten too quickly for me to photograph), and drank plenty of espresso and wine (not at the same time, mind you). Yes, Paris was delicious.

So good...

There were a few culinary highlights on my trip. The first, I would say, was the chèvre chaud salad I had on my second night at a nice little French bistro off the beaten track. What made this salad particularly special was that they drizzled honey over the warm goat cheese, which added depth to the dish. Seriously, I will be making this in the future. So freaking good.

Best salmon ever.

The second highlight was the salmon dinner I had at a cute little restaurant/bar near my hostel in Montmartre. It was a pavé de saumon à la provençale, which was essentially salmon and tomatoes and zucchini cooked in butter and served with rice. Butter makes everything taste so much better...

St. Honore

Thick and delicious

Another highlight for me was the chocolat à l'ancienne that I had at Angelina. Story goes that Coco Chanel used to frequent this place, famous for its hot chocolate. The chocolate is served in a little pitcher and you are supposed to pour it into your cup, then you can add whipped cream (served in a dish alongside the pitcher of chocolate) to thin the chocolate out a little. Believe me, this stuff is thick. It is really like drinking melted chocolate. So decadent and tasty. To accompany my hot chocolate, I ordered a St. Honoré, a pastry that I do not usually order (in fact, I'm not sure I've ever tried one). It turns out that I've been missing out on something that is pretty darn good. The puff pastry balls are filled with vanilla pastry cream, covered in caramel, and topped with Bourbon whipped cream. Very rich, but so very worth it.

Wine!

Royally delicious!

The biggest highlight came when I had a little picnic in the park. I bought a baguette, some sheep's milk cheese, a nice little bottle of Bordeaux, and a Royal Chocolat. The wine was really great, though I felt a bit self-conscious about openly drinking wine straight out of the bottle all by myself on a public park bench. The best part, however, was the Royal Chocolat. I already knew that that particular dessert was my favorite French patisserie. This one just happened to be the best I've ever had. Ever. Really. I would fly back to France right now just to get another one. While I was sitting on the bench, savoring this dessert, a French lady walked by and saw this wonderful treat and came and asked me where I bought it because it looked "trop bon." Yes indeed, it was "trop bon."

Magical macarons!

There were of course many other delectable goodies that I consumed. Pain au chocolat, which Americans simply cannot make well to save their lives. Then of course, there were crêpes (yes, multiple, all with Nutella). And lest we forget, macarons! Yes, Paris was delicious, and I cannot wait to return...

Call Me the Queen of Custard

Ooh, Kit Kats and ice cream!

I have really enjoyed making ice cream this year. I find that it is one of the most rewarding baking experiences, since once you learn a few basic recipes, you can get as creative as you like. For example, I used a simple vanilla ice cream as the base recipe for my peanut butter honey swirl ice cream, and for today's recipe, I started with a malted milk ice cream base and added my personal touch of Kit Kats (my favorite candy bar of all time, always and forever).

Give me a break!

Let me first talk a little about my love for Kit Kats.Kit Kats and I go way back. Way, way back. One of my earliest memories is waiting on the couch in Michigan, some time at night, for my dad to return with a Kit Kat for me. I don't know the circumstances surrounding that situation, I just remember the anticipation of a Kit Kat. At Halloween, I always loved getting the fun size Kit Kats, and preferred the houses that gave those away. Later on, in high school, Kit Kats became a bit of an obsession/addiction of mine. I had one nearly every day it seemed. I would even go around singing the Kit Kat jingle (sadly, I still know the words to this day). There is just something about the combination of wafers and milk chocolate that does something to me. I'm a real sucker for anything with wafers and chocolate (there's not much I wouldn't do to get my hands on some of these Swiss delectables).

As for the ice cream, it has been hot lately and I had some egg yolks I needed to use up. In particular, I had 6 egg yolks to use, so I needed a recipe that called for exactly 6 egg yolks. Enter: malted milk ice cream. I had some whoppers that I could have added to the ice cream, but they weren't looking so good. Besides, I really love Kit Kats. The rest is history. Very creamy, delicious history.

Malted Milk Ice Cream with Kit Kats
adapted from The Perfect Scoop


1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup malted milk powder
6 lrg egg yolks
18 small Kit Kats, chopped

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, vanilla, and malted milk powder and set a fine mesh strainer on top.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly whisk the warm milk into the egg yolks, then scrape the mixture back into the pan.

Stir the mixture constantly with a heat-proof spatula over medium heat until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir the mixture until smooth and consistent.

Chill the custard overnight in the fridge. Freeze the ice cream in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. At the end of the churning cycle, stir in the chopped Kit Kats.

Enjoy!

Piña Colada Cake and the Big Screw-Up

Come with me and escape!

Do you like piña coladas? Well, I do. I don't think you can go wrong with the combination of pineapple and coconut, especially when we're talking about cake.

My family decided to celebrate Labor Day this year on Sunday so that everyone would have Monday to recover. What exactly we were supposed to be recovering from, I am not sure, so I figured I'd booze up our little shindig to give everyone something to recover from. To that end, I made this piña colada cake (which has rum in it), and a white sangria. My dad made a red sangria, so for those of us who were imbibing, there was plenty of alcohol. Not that we're lushes or anything. We were simply enjoying the last hurrah of Summer that is Labor Day weekend.

Sunken middle :(

The party was one of my family's less eventful affairs. For me, the highlights were renaming my sister Frakah Khan (and then my nephew deciding my sister should name her baby Frakah Khan), and having a little dance party with my sister and my nephew. I taught my nephew how to do the sprinkler, the blender, the bump, and the dip. He really took a liking to the blender, and he had me dip him over and over again until I thought my arm would fall off. I tried teaching the kid how to do the running man, but he took one look at that move and said, "no, me can't do that." Ah well, one day...

Holey piña colada cake, Batman!

I suppose there was one minor event during the preparation of my family's get-together: I screwed up the cake. I prepared it perfectly, but it turned out that I did not bake it long enough. Yeah, I undercooked the cake. I was very upset about this because I was really looking forward to enjoying the cake. Luckily, it was only the top part of the center of the cake that was not cooked all the way, so I simply cut a hole into the cake, glazed the cake, and filled the hole with pineapple. Problem solved! In the end, despite my little mistake, the cake was still delicious, moist, and tropical. Perfect for an end of Summer treat.

Piña Colada Cake
from here

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp dark rum
2 lrg eggs, at room temp
1 cup cream of coconut
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple

1 tbsp rum, +2 tsp for glaze

2 tbsp pineapple juice, +2 tsp for glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the rum and cream of coconut until combined. In two additions, mix in the dry ingredients on low speed. Mix until just combined. Fold in the pineapple chunks.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the center of the oven for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (and make sure the cake does not jiggle!). Cool the cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto another wire rack. Poke holes in the cake using a toothpick, then drizzle over the mixture of 1 tbsp rum and 2 tbsp pineapple juice. Allow the cake to cool completely.

To prepare the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, pinch of salt, and rum and pineapple juice. Slowly drizzle the glaze over the cake, trying to get it even over the top.

Enjoy!

Peach Champagne Cake and the Case of the Missing Passport

Peachy!

I am fairly certain that I have lost both my mind and my passport. Both seem to have evaporated into thin air. I have searched high and low, looking in the same drawers and boxes four or five times each and nada. Nothing!

It's a little bit funny to me that the one time I plan a transatlantic trip on short notice, I cannot find my passport. What's really funny to me is the fact that I'm doing this trip to kind of recharge myself and do a little soul-searching, and in the meantime, I cannot find the piece of identification necessary to go on said soul-searching journey. I have lost my identity and it is time for a new one!

Okay, okay, none of that has anything to do with this fabulous cake I made for my coworker's birthday. This cake was actually my first commissioned cake (ordered by my boss), so I felt a little bit of pressure to make it special. I decided on peach champagne because it is Summer and I thought nothing says Summer like peaches and champagne. Plus, I've never made a champagne cake before, so this was a good opportunity to give it a try.

The cake was delicious. Moist and light and bubbly. Like champagne! And it was peachy! A nice Summer celebration cake, and very easy to make. In the future, I might use this cake as a jumping point for a kir royale cake, or a champagne chambord cake...

So delicious!

Peach Champagne Cake
adapted from here


2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
6 egg whites
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup dry champagne
1/4 cup peach schnapps

Butter and flour 2 9-inch cake pans, and cut out two circles of parchment to put into the bottom of the pans (after buttering, before flouring- makes for a very easy removal). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In the large bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add in the vanilla and beat in the eggs whites, one egg white at a time (be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl often).

Add in one third of the flour mixture at a time, mixing on low just to combine, then alternate by adding in half of the alcohol mixture. Repeat until all ingredients are combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes (depending on your oven).

Peaches and Cream Filling


1 peach
1 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp sugar

Peel the peach and dice it into small pieces. In a medium bowl, beat the whipping cream and sugar together on high speed with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the peaches.

Peach Champagne Frosting


1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup champagne
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp peach schnapps
1 tsp vanilla
1 drop red food coloring

Beat the butter and vanilla together using the whisk attachment in a stand mixer. Add the sugar one cup at a time. Beat in the liquid ingredients.

Mmm, pretty...

To assemble the cake:
Cut the tops off of the cakes to create a level working surface (easier said than done, folks). Place one layer on your serving surface of choice (I had a cardboard cake circle). Spoon out about a cup or so of the peaches and cream filling on top of the cake and smooth it out to within 1 inch of the edge of the cake. Place the second layer of cake on top of the layer of filling, making sure to center it. Start by frosting the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of frosting (to cover up the crumbs). Now add the rest of the frosting and smooth it out however you like (I like the rustic look, personally). For the top of the cake, I cut 7 thin slices of peach, soaked up the extra juice with a paper towel, brushed them with lemon juice, and fanned them out in a circle on top of the frosting. Voila! A celebration cake!

Nutella Brownies or When Two Loves Combine

Nutella Brownies!

It is no secret: I love brownies and I love Nutella. Should I ever be forced to choose between one or the other (as in, I can only have one for the rest of my life), I think I would implode. Or I would choose these brownies, because it combines my two loves.

Don't judge...

I did not always love Nutella. My first impression of it was that of indifference; I could take it or leave it. That all changed when I studied abroad in Poitiers, France. Nutella became an addiction. True story: I would carry a jar of Nutella in my backpack in case I acquired a warm, fresh baguette from a bakery. Warm baguette + Nutella = Heaven (yes, I said that in a sing-song voice). Yes, I developed a deep, loving relationship with Nutella. This relationship, of course, was not good for me or my wardrobe. Let me just say that, regrettably, most of the clothing I had gone to France with did not fit me by the end of my time there.

I have since scaled back on the Nutella binges. In fact, I don't binge on it at all- too much sugar for me. I like my sweets, but I don't like them that sweet. Nutella is now just an occasional moment of bliss. My attachment is a lot less obsessive and is now more of a fondness.

Brownies, on the other hand, are still an obsession. The song Bad Romance comes to mind, for some reason. I get these really intense cravings for brownies (fudgy ones, of course), and then when I bake them, I go a little crazy with them. I'll eat one square and call it good, but sure enough, about half an hour later, I'm back at the pan, cutting myself "just a sliver" of brownie. Before I know it, a third of the pan is gone and my stomach is screaming at me for overdoing it. And then the guilt sets in. Brownies should come with a warning: contains guilt as a main ingredient. Yes, brownie is that bad lover that I keep returning to, no matter how many times he mistreats me. What can I say? I must be some kind of masochist...

Anyway, back to the Nutella Brownies. Were they good? Hells yes. Especially when served with my homemade coffee ice cream. You want to know the best part? These brownies were flipping easy to make. Seriously, way super easy. A drunken toddler could make these (note: I do not condone plying toddlers with alcohol). So, if you're really wanting brownies and have a large jar of Nutella on hand, I say go forth and bake these babies. You're welcome.

Gooey!

Nutella Brownies
from here

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Nutella

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare an 8-inch square pan by spraying it with cooking spray.

Combine the flour and salt in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, beat the butter with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Beat in the Nutella and mix until incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture.

Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack. These suckers are pretty stellar warm and served with ice cream.

Enjoy!

Lemon Loaf and Life Lessons

Most of the loaf was eaten before I took a picture...

"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well, folks, my blog has officially reached it's first anniversary. That means I actually stuck with this for a year! I am proud of myself for sticking with it, given how many projects I've started in the past, only to abandon a few days or a few weeks later.

I've actually had a weekend full of proud moments. It all began with an epiphany that I had on Thursday when I went for a walk during a break at work. I've been feeling restless lately, a bit trapped, uncertain of my future and questioning whether there was a light at the end of the tunnel. During that last walk (and I've been taking many walks lately), it suddenly hit me: I need to not return to school in the fall and instead focus on baking. Specifically, I need to focus on starting a business for my baking. It is a scary thought, something I've toyed with in the past, but never took too seriously. In the end, however, I think it is time that I really gave a dream a chance to see the light, instead of keeping it trapped in my mind.

Once I had that breakthrough, things began to seem a little more clear to me. I am not trapped. I am free to make whatever decisions I feel are best, as this is my life, and I'm the only one living it. I've also only got one chance at this life, so I need to make the most of it. It has also helped to have some good friends to talk to and to remind me who I really am. I am a strong person, and I am not alone.

With this new outlook, I managed to fill what started out as a no-plans 3-day weekend with lots of activity. I took a drive in the country all by myself (which I had never done before), and wound up on some country roads that reminded me of a roller coaster; at one point, I came over a hill where I could not see the bottom, so I just yelled, "wooooo!" and enjoyed the ride. It was a nice little adventure. I also went to a party where I managed to speak a little French,as well as talk to strangers and join in conversations I was not originally a part of (something that usually makes me nervous). On Saturday I met up with two different friends across the river and did some exploring over there on my own for a bit (another first). During that adventure, I ate the most delicious grilled sandwich ever at The Grilled Cheese Grill: the Jaime, which had mascarpone, nutella, and bananas on cinnamon swirl bread. I almost died of happiness. I'm glad I didn't die, though, because Sunday morning I had another such moment with some peanut butter pancakes at Screen Door. It was a solid weekend with new adventures and plenty of time spent with good friends.

And so now I will share with you the recipe for the lemon loaf I made this weekend. Still not sure if it's a bread or a cake, but I don't really care. It tastes good. Sometimes I just get a lemon craving, and this satisfies that. It's a burst of sunshine, when that is what you need in your life. Also, my boss told me that it's the best lemon pound cake she has ever tasted, so I feel pretty good about it.

Lemon Loaf
adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking


3/4 cup cake flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/8 cup sugar
4 lrg eggs at room temp.
grated lemon zest from 2 lemons
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 sour cream at room temp.
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup limoncello

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9x5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Fit a small sheet of parchment paper in the bottom of the coated pan and coat with cooking spray.

Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a food processor, combine the sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice and pulse to combine. With the motor running, drizzle the butter in through the feeding tube. Stop the machine and add the sour cream and vanilla and pulse to combine. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, then stir the dry ingredients in in 3 additions. Stir until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then bake at the center of the oven for 20 minutes. Rotate the pan and turn the heat down to 325 degrees F and cook for another 30-35 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Allow the loaf to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Invert the loaf onto a sheet of parchment and poke holes into the top and sides of the loaf. Use a pastry brush to brush the loaf with limoncello, allowing the limoncello to seep into the holes. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

Emergency Chocolate Cake

Sorry, this is the only picture I got; I was a bit excited about eating the cake...

So my blog has been on hiatus for a few weeks, mostly because I did not bake any new recipes. Okay, so that's not entirely true- I did make some muffins, but they weren't good enough to write about. Instead, I made coffee ice cream and my famous chocolate chip cookies because I was in the mood for something familiar.

But I'm back with a recipe for Emergency Chocolate Cake from Cook's Illustrated. I'd been feeling a bit of the summertime blues last week, so I figured an easy chocolate cake was what the doctor ordered. While the cake did not actually fix anything, it got me back in the baking spirit. It was also delicious.

No, what really is really helping me right now is a reminder from one of my best friends. I remember feeling this way when I studied abroad, and I told my friend about it. She reminded me that I got through that time, had the best time of my life after it, and if it were not for that, we would not be such good friends. Sometimes you need a friend who has been there for you before to remind you of just how strong you are. So I'm back. And I want to share a poem that has been playing in my mind today: Invictus.

Emergency Chocolate Cake
adapted from Cook's Illustrated


7.5 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
7 oz sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 oz Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1 cup hot coffee
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 lrg egg
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position, preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and coat an 8x8-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, combine the chocolate and cocoa powder, then pour the hot coffee over it and whisk until smooth; let cool. Whisk in the remaining ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

4. Allow cake to cool on wire rack. The cake can be eaten plain, or served with ice cream.