Carrot Ginger Cake with Brown Butter Icing
Welcome to another edition of "Tracy uses her cellphone for a blog post!"
Mission: Make a tasty cake for girl's night in an hour or less.
Picture this. I spent the day waiting for Casey's work to let him know if he had to fly out for work that night (which meant I would miss Glee with the girls) or the next morning (I could go to Glee with the girls!). If I could go, I'd have to bring dessert for the 5 of us. If not, then I'd sit at home watching it by my lonesome. This waffling back and forth happened ALL. DAY. LONG. And finally, at 5pm (1 1/2 hours before I was supposed to be at my friend's house) I got the green light that I COULD GO! Flight was booked for the next morning! Awesome.
So with an hour to whip something up, I enlisted the help of Cooper to make this little cake. I pulled a box of Trader Joe's Deep Dark Gingerbread Cake Mix from the pantry and added a few ingredients and tada! We have a Carrot Gingerbread Cake. The cake was moist & spicy and the Brown Butter Icing was STELLAR. The girls loved it, just as much as Glee! You might need to think of Coach Beast to help you cool off from eating a slice....but a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream just might do the trick! ;)
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Pumpkin Cream Pie
Traditions. My life has been full of them, thanks to my mom. But somehow this year, our Thanksgiving isn't going to be the same. My grandma has moved back to New York, and my brothers will be away so we're having something very small and quaint at my parent's house this year. Guess who WON'T be staying up late to clean fancy dishes all night long with her mom? ME! Honestly, I couldn't be more thrilled. I've been craving a breakup in tradition for awhile now. Ever since a few family members past, it's weird going through the motions, pretending that things are the same.Things aren't. Life changes! People change! And guess what? So do taste buds!
If you are craving a change in your traditional Thanksgiving meal, add this to the mix! It's a pumpkin CREAM pie with a sprinkling of crunchy chopped candied pecans on top. Ever wonder what it would be like to have a pumpkin pie candy bar? This flavor profile totally nails it. The buttery crunch and ginger spice of the crust is TO. DIE. FOR. It's kinda like crunchy toffee! The pumpkin custard is creamy & spicy and the whipped cream with pecan chunks resting in the fluff? OUTRAGEOUS! It's what dreams are made of.
So wake up your guest's taste buds and offer them something different. I don't think they'll miss a slice of the regular ole' pumpkin pie. And if your Great Aunt Sally scoffs at her dessert plate filled with this pie, make sure you put a lump of coal on her plate at the Christmas table. Why does she have to be such a Scrooge??!!
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Malted Waffles
Malt...how I love thee...Let me count the ways...
-I love you in a chocolate malt at a baseball game. You are the perfect ending to all the roasted peanuts & hot dogs I inhale. I love you so much that I endure eating you with a wooden spoon. Hey! It's not that easy!
-I love you in a strawberry milkshake at a diner. I always convince the waitress to add more of you in my cup, because you are THAT good.
-I love you in the Robins Eggs I eat at Easter. I love you so much that I've endured bloody cracked lips from wearing off the candy shell to get to you!
-I love you in these Matled Waffles. You add a yeasty depth that mimic the Weekend Waffles & the Buckwheat Belgium Waffles I've made in the past. The best part is that I didn't have to wait for any yeast to rise. You were perfect right off the bat! You make the waffles crispy on the outside and subtly chewy on the inside. You were a star! Now, what should I do with you next?!!
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Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Icing
So I walk out onto the Project Runway stage holding this cake on a pedestal and Michael Kors gasps! He cries, "EFFORTLESSLY CHIC!" Then I proceed to ask him why the screw always comes out on my ritzy MK sunglasses??! Come on Michael! My Isaac Mizrahi sunglasses from Target have held up for almost 4 years now! Of course Nina Garcia would like to talk some mad crap about my cake, but the caramelized walnuts shut her up. Yeah girl. You know it's totally editorial. Zip it. Later on I catch Heidi scarfing down half of it....
Then I woke up.... Why is this cake effortlessly chic? Well there's three different recipes that come together to produce a simple, yet killer pumpkin cake. At first I was intimidated because I usually avoid recipes that refer to ANOTHER recipe to complete an ingredient. I just want it all there, right in front of my face. I want to know how hard I need work and if the effort is going to pay off. So yeah... I was blown away by the ease of this cake. Three different recipes? Child's play. Chic? Check! Effortless? Pretty much!
This is the cake that we ate on Halloween night. YES. After all that candy wrangling, my friends & neighbors made room for this cake. Once you lay eyes on a cake like this, your stomach sends singles to your brain. "Hey! Let's make some room for this cake!" Yes, surprisingly they'll synchronize their swatches and suddenly your devouring a big slice.
Oh and did you get a load of those nuts? Make sure you snag one because I might fight you for it.
Herbed Cheese Straws
Want to give people the impression that you're super awesome in the kitchen? Make a batch of these and bring them to a party! I guarantee the lucky recipients of these Herbed Cheese Straws will assume you've spent hours making them. You might be the talk of the party, watch out!
Want the truth? It's pretty shameful how easy these straws are to whip up. Don't feel bad about the praise.
You totally deserve it!
Afraid of puff pastry & dough? Don't be a wuss! This is recipe is totally attainable. You can do this. I have faith in you. The power of puff pastry is ridiculous, and once you've conquered your timid frozen puff pastry dough ways, you are gonna find any excuse to make something ANYTHING with a box of puff pastry. I'm thinking these would be equally enjoyable if I substituted all the savory bits with cinnamon, sugar and a smear of yummy pumpkin butter!
But that's an entirely different post..... Stay tuned.
Spiced Lemon Cake
When you've tackled 5 loads of laundry, cleaned up Cheerios for the 1000th time after being on hold with the garbage company for 25 minutes, and you're working from home battling Excel spreadsheets to the soundtrack of a little boy screaming "baseball and skateboards," THIS is the cake that you must turn to to quiet the shit storm you've just encountered.
You are worthy. You are capable and you can handle anything now that you have a slice of this cake. Go ahead. You deserve it! The liberation derived from a slice can be compared to the feeling of removing your spanx, pantyhose AND clingy dress with too tight of a waistband and substituting them with a baggy sweatshirt and soft yoga pants. Finally, you can breathe again.
Spiced Lemon Cake. Spiced? Not really. The cardamon didn't pack as much of a spice punch as I'd hoped. Is it still worthy of being one of the best/simplest lemon cakes? Yes. The glaze provides just enough tang to match the fluffy light lemony cake it rests upon. If you are looking to fulfill the spice aspect, perhaps a full teaspoon instead of 3/4 will do the trick.
Pair a slice with a cup of milky tea, and this cake is absolutely divine.
Crazy day? What crazy day? There's cake!
Salted Caramel Popcorn Pretzel Bars
So I went to the dentist last week after dodging a cleaning for 2 years (it could have been worse!) Coast is clear! No cavities! We are all good. To celebrate this accomplishment, I busted out a batch of these ooey gooey Salted Caramel Popcorn Pretzel Bars!! Because really...what dentist would approve such a treat?
I stood there in the kitchen, cutting up the bars and had to walk away for a minute to regroup. Why? Because I was eating too many of them! There were a few that didn't have *perfect* edges and I HAD to take care of them. There was one with a pretzel sticking out and God forbid someone got poked with it! There was one that didn't have enough caramel on top and one that did. I took care of those for you because I totally have your best interest in mind.
I really had no idea how good these bars were going to be! I probably ate a whole plate of them yesterday and have the scratched up gums to prove it. I think my dentist would probably say, "I told you so!"
Make these and share them. Like, put some on a plate and wrap them up and give them away BEFORE you take your first bite of one. They are utterly AHHH-DDICTIVE.
Apple Pear Phyllo Crisp
Phyllo dough. Love the stuff. Anytime I see anything phyllo dough related on a passed hors d'oeuvres tray, I grab as many as possible. It's a good idea to make friends with the server carrying the tray because you'll be guaranteed first dibs when a fresh batch comes out of the kitchen!
Tell them a dirty joke and they'll bring you more than just hors d'oeuvres....Trust me.
This recipe was the first time I've actually USED phyllo dough. I've spent all of my adult life avoiding the stuff because I was always told that phyllo dough is ridiculously hard to work with (thanks, Mom!) Guess what?!! I am a phyllo dough survivor and it wasn't so bad!! I just remembered to religiously cover the sheets after pulling a new one out. There was one moment where I ripped a sheet and then I said F-it. Like anyone is going to see a rip when they are having buttery flaky phyllo dough mouthgasm.
How would I describe this Apple Pear Phyllo Crisp?
Crispy, crunchy, flaky, nutty, fruity, buttery.... It's like baklava with fruit on top!
I'm thinking it would be divine with a little ginger simple syrup mixed in the butter. Oh! What about some ginger spiked whipped cream? I'd love some with a hot toddy!
