Christmas in Paris from the US!

Hi there, and happy 2015! So, today I have these amazing Eiffel Tower cookies that I got from the blog Elements of Style. My aunt sent me the link and suggested that I make them, so I did and they turned out fantastic. The process took two days but that was just because I was feeling lazy and wanted to postpone the process, so one one day I made the dough and put it in the fridge and the next I baked and decorated them. You can make them in one but just be sure to make the dough earlier in the morning because you have to put the dough in the fridge for 2 hours and then you can take it out. So, basically what I am saying is plan ahead! 

In the blog, Erin had used silver and black for the decorations of the Eiffel Tower, but I used white and gold for mine. So, you can change up the look a little bit. I also had added wreaths because I made these right around the holidays, but you can just leave them out and they will look just as nice. 

To make the cookies into an Eiffel Tower shape, I used a cookie cutter, which you can find here. Another optional but very helpful tool to have is parchment paper. I always have a little stash in my pantry and it helps a lot!

The Finished Product!

So, without further ado, here is the recipe...

Chocolate Galore!

Well, hello there readers. I am typing this sitting at my newly organized desk (another new years resolution--organize my desk). Yes, I have another obsession. Chocolate. I can not get enough of it right now. I love chocolate. When I came across this recipe (again from Orangette), I knew I had to make it. When the recipe for a chocolate cake suddenly appeared on my screen, I just knew I had to make it (Well, ok, the recipe did not just appear on my screen, I made it come up). This cake looked so good. And...not to mention ridiculously decadent. Yes, I know sounds good, right.

So, I picked up all of my ingredients from the store. And the butter. Yes, the butter. Do you remember when I cooked and blogged about a lot of French foods in a row? Well, this is another recipe that I think is French...cross my fingers. Anyways this recipe calls for French butter (one of the reasons I suspect that this is a French recipe). French butter is higher in fat which produces more air bubbles. This are good in a cake because the make the cake airy. But that being said, high fat butter is not the best for you--hence the name high fat butter, and you do not always want your cake to be airy. But for this cake you do.

Let me tell you how the cake turned out. OMG! This cake was good!  I mean deliciously, melt in your mouth, decadent, death by chocolate good!  The chocolate!  Oh! the chocolate. The top was like a brownie and the inside was nice and creamy. This was hands-down one of the best chocolate cakes I had ever tasted. And that is hard. I love my chocolate cakes from the box (aka Betty Crocker Mixes). I know you are surprised, but sometimes I go box!

Did I mention that this cake is named Winning-Hearts-And Minds Cake by Molly Wizenburg's friend Kate (Molly is the author of Orangette)? This one did truly win my heart.

I Have A Feeling

Well, I have some exciting news! I have a New Year's resolution that I know you will love! BLOG MORE! Yes, that is one of my New Year's resolutions. 

I love lemon. I am obsessed with it. I put lemon juice on my apples even if I am going to sit down and eat them as soon as I finish putting on the lemon juice. When I was reading the blog Orangette (I went way back to the very beginning of the blog) I found this recipe. Well, let me say that when I figured out that there was lemon zest and lemon juice in this recipe, lets just say I went a little nuts.Then it clicked. My first post of the New Year should be on this lemon cake. 

It just so happened that I had 2 lemons in my fridge. Just enough for the fresh juice from 2 lemons needed for this. After I came home from the BC woman's basketball game against Virginia Tech with my cousins (which BC won 70-63), I made this cake. The batter took no time at all. Then I had dinner. After dinner, I glazed the cake. I got a little worried making the glaze because the glaze is so thin, it hardly looked like glaze but, it turns out the glaze was perfect. After I glazed the cake, I could not resist not having a piece then and there. So, I did. The cake was very tangy. VERY! But it was good. So, good I packed some in my lunch today. I thought it was even possible better, when it was a day old. Now I am sitting here having another piece now. I could not post about this cake without saying that this cake is a wonderfully, spongy yougurt cake. I think I might try the cake on its on and report back. Really. It might be the cake I make for birthday parties from now on. The cake could be made using many different variations (orange, raspberry, chocolate, etc.) Really, try this cake. It is a quick, easy, cake to make and it is so delicious! 

Which Camp Are You In?

Ugggg... that's how I feel about Tarte Flambee. Also known as Flammkuchen. For those of you who don't know what it is, Alsatian Flatbread with Bacon and Creme Fraiche  is how "My Berlin Kitchen"  best describes it. It is from a region in France and Germany named Alsace. Alsace borders Germany and has a lot of the same culture as Germany. I have gone to France and visited Strasbourg, a city which is in the heart of Alsace. Strasbourg has amazing history, amazing culture, amazing food (except for some of us and the tarte flambee), and have you seen their houses!!!!! Alsace is overall AMAZING!!! When I went to Strasbourg, I had my first taste of tarte flambee. As a second grader it may have been a little extreme to try it. I did not like it one little bit. As I was flipping through Luisa Weiss food memoir (check out her blog) "My Berlin Kitchen" I found a recipe for it. Knowing that my mom loves it (if by chance I thought it was gross, AGAIN!) I decided to try it again. So on Saturday, January 19th, I finally got myself together and made it. While, my mother loved it, I on the other hand did not. It did not take that long, only about 1 hour (shorter than most things that I have made + posted about).  So, without further ado, here it is. Luisa Weiss's "My Berlin Kitchen"...

Tips:
1. The key is to get the dough as thin as possible
2. When you are rolling out the dough, get it as thin as possible without breaking, then put it as quickly as you can on the baking sheet
3. If you can find Speck, than by all means use it, but if you can't regular bacon will work too

You Might Think You're In France Creme Brulee...Plus What To Do With The Egg Whites After!

At my second cooking lesson, I made Creme Brulee and Coconut Macaroons. The creme brulee was super easy. The process for the macaroons was easy too but a poor coconut brand made it tricky.  Also the dough was really dry so we had to add much more egg than called for. 

I go to a school where students can chose to study in French.  So, since the first grade, I have been learning in French.  I have even been to France.  I think all of this learning business has made me LOVE French food and all things French.  I mean I seriously LOVE French food, especially Creme Brulee. Really people, come on, how many three year olds order Creme Brulee and do not have a single clue what it is.  Ever since that first Creme Brulee, I have been in LOVE with them!  My obsession took a new turn when I went to France.  I made it my business to sample Creme Brulee at every restaurant that we went to.  I sampled Creme Brulee across the whole countryside of France, from Paris to Strasbourg and back.  I sampled it at big restaurants, small restaurants... for lunch, and for dinner.  Every day it was continuously Creme Brulee. And if that wasn't enough to make you think "Wow, she is crazy!",  I was only in the second grade!  Because of my love for this delicious dessert, I thought that it was time to learn how to cook it.  Most recipes are a little more complicated, but this one can be made in about 15 minutes...and it's really good!  Caramelizing the top adds the "WOW" factor. Below is a link to a video of Ina making it.  You can view it at http://www.foodnetwork.com/barefoot-contessas-creme-brulee/video/index.html

The surprise bonus: Coconut Macaroons!  One of the added bonuses of taking cooking lessons is that I get to learn new tips and tricks. I have a question for you.  What do you do with the extra yolks/whites after you make something? If you are like me you probably just throw them away.  Thanks to my cooking teacher, Macy, I now have two new things. One, a go to cookie recipe, and two, what to do when a recipe calls for egg yolks and not egg whites (now, I just have to find a recipe that uses egg yolks). These treats were really a hit with my family, as I started with twenty four, and by the end of the day was down to seven. They are very easy and I could be making them for a party in my future. If you make these cookies right, they will not spread like chocolate chip or sugar cookies would. They will stay in a ball and have little cracks in them. I have one advisory for you, don't use Trader Joe's brand of coconut; their coconut was too dry. Regular supermarket brand kind, would be better. 

The Creme Brulee recipe was from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten. She has loads of cookbooks and I all of the recipes I trust and love. The macaroons were from Cook's Illustrated which is a cooking magazine. You can also look it up online but you have to be a subscriber to view it.  Both of the recipes are to follow.

A Warm Cure

A couple days ago,  I made lentil soup. I made up a HUGE  batch. I decided to give some to my aunt who has been sick for 10 days. This soup freezes well so, she can have it all winter. The recipe below is doubled because I found that there was not enough in the original recipe. If you have tupperware, this is the time to use it. If, you don't than any plastic bag will do (make sure that they are the "freezer" kind not the "sandwich" or "snack"). So, there is no reason not to make extra.  This recipe does not call for a ham hock, so you do not need to cook up some ham to make this. This only takes up to 45 minutes so, you can make up a batch really fast. I adapted this recipe from Dinner:A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach. She also has her own blog and it is http://www.dinneralovestory.com/. All of the recipes are super easy and do not take that much time. This recipe calls for beluga lentils but french lentils will also do ( I could only find french lentils at the store and t worked just find). Also there is only 3 vegetables in this recipe so there is not a lot of chopping involved.  This recipe called for anchovies and I do not like any thing fish related, so I omitted them. The recipe also did not say to "soup-wand" but, I like my soups "soup-wanded", so I did "soup-wand" it. If you do have a "soup-wand", I recommend that you use it. A "soup-wand" is also known as an immersion blender.  It really blends the soup all together, rather than tasting the individual ingredients. The recipe is to follow. Another add-in that might taste good with this is crumbled sausage.  

Tasty with Tea!

For Christmas, my aunt (and godmother) gave me this fabulous new cookbook. All week long (while the rest of my family was skiing and I was sick) I was deciding on what to make.  So the other day, my first day back to school, I new I had waited long enough.  I ran in the door after school and I started to make the Rum Cake.

First you make Simple Syrup, then the actual cake.  Finally, ( you can omit this part if you would like) you make Rum Icing.  I am not a huge fan of rum, I cut down on it from the beginning, but soon realized I needed to cut down on it more.  Don't be afraid to cut down on the rum if you are not a fan of it.  Simple Syrup is basically equal parts sugar, and water, simmered just to dissolve the sugar.  For the rum cake, if you have a traditional cast-iron Bundt pan, this is the time to use it. Those older pans, as well as newer pans marked "Original Bundt" or "Anniversary Bundt" with a 15-cup capacity, are what this recipe is made for.  However, if you only have a smaller Bundt pan, it will work; just leave a 1/2-inch space at the top of the pan when filling it with batter, and bake the cake for slightly less time (if you like, you can bake the excess batter in a muffin pan, checking for doneness after 30 minutes or so).  You'll need a 15-cup (10 1/2-inch) Bundt pan.  Also, baking in a convection oven gives the cake a better crumb (but a standard oven yields fantastic results as well).  I used a standard oven and it came out just fine.  Don't omit the sugar from the pan, it adds a nice sugary flavor.  One of the many problems I encountered while making this cake was the icing was very rubbery.  Another was it took forever.  I started this cake at 3:30 (right after school) and finished it at 7:45pm.  I was exhausted!

I found the recipe in Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller (another of my favorite books). Overall this was a long, sweet treat.The recipe is to follow.

An Apple Surprise

Today, I made a apple tart at my very first cooking lesson with Macy. She has her own blog and it is http://macybakes.blogspot.com/. We first made the dough, then the filling. Finally, the glaze. This tart is about the pure, clear taste of apples, sugar, and a little bit of butter. There are no spices to muddle the flavors; here the apples truly shine. I found the recipe in "My Berlin Kitchen" by Luisa Weiss. She also has her own blog. It is http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/. 3 tablespoons of sugar may look like a lot (as you can see from the picture below) but it comes out fabulous!  Overall, this was DELICIOUS!!!!!! The recipe is to follow.