Trial and Eclair -

Praline Topped Blondies

February 2, 2017 No Comments

I recognize that the love many people have for chocolate will always lead them to a statement brownies > blondies. A big fan of chocolate myself, I do challenge this particular truth. The versatility of flavor a blondie allows, while maintaining the dense gooey center and chewy exterior, is not something to scoff at. With a brownie, how do you make anything the main attraction over chocolate? Perhaps you can’t, and I’m looking for more from this particular baked good than it can provide me. But, that’s what I’m saying. Even just the classic, mimicking chocolate chip cookie dough in flavor while maintaining the above detailed texture perfection.

Cookies

Corn Cookies with Strawberry Hearts

January 2, 2017 No Comments

I’ve been a big fan of corn for a long time. Corn on the cob, popcorn, cornbread. Growing up, my Dunkin’ Donuts treat was always a corn muffin (which still sounds better than a donut to me). Cornbread is something I want to explore more (I’m thinking herbed), and may end up being theme to focus on moving forward. These cookies, another from Christina Tosi at Milk Bar, are a whole new corn experience. I added chocolate and strawberry for a sweet/tart combination and they are pretty ridiculous.

Cake

Fluffy Pound Cake and Apple Butter

November 21, 2016 No Comments

I want to be someone that can reliably bake a cake. From the texture, to the flavor, to the assembly and final presentation, the goal is both consistency and delight. Is it your birthday? Let me bake you a cake. I love a celebration cake and birthdays are obviously the easiest reason, but anything will do. The satisfaction that comes from baking a cake from scratch and making it look at least presentable is a major motivator as well. Maybe it’s just me, but the joy of being gifted a cake is just that, a smiling pleasing joy. Even if it’s bought from a bakery, it’s just nice.

Cookies

Milkbar’s Confetti Cookies, or, How to Taste Childhood

September 20, 2016 No Comments

Christina Tosi of Momofuku’s Milkbar is magical and offers what I want to call nostalgic goodies. Except, I didn’t have Funfetti cake until college, so I’m not sure that’s quite right. When I did have it, I was never that impressed with the taste. These cookies offer the flavor I wanted with the appearance, sugary, buttery, with a somehow colorful tasting burst. The reason it’s nostalgic, I think, is because it tastes as good as it does. When you’re young, and don’t have the freedom of eating cookies for breakfast or ice cream for dinner, sweets are treasured. Half of their goodness is the weighted expectation, the time you have to wait, the terrible vegetables you need to finish in order to consume just one treat! Not to mention the THINGS YOU’VE NEVER TASTED. This is why Little Debbie treats or ice cream Drumsticks are never quite as perfect as you remember. These cookies are though. They are better.

Muffins

Ginger Bran Muffins with Citrus

September 10, 2016 No Comments

There’s this thing about muffins. An idea, or hope, that they are a better for you than a cupcake. That they are suitable for breakfast (though sometimes a cupcake is exactly what you need for breakfast). But a good, satisfying, fueling breakfast needs protein. It needs fiber. It does not need an excess of sugar. I’m working on a muffin that satisfies this, because, well, when I want a cupcake for breakfast I better have a suitable substitute…

Cookies, Shortbread

Callie’s Shortbread Cookie

August 20, 2016 No Comments

Pistachio shortbread with cocao nibs and rose buttercream AND salt. I know. I’m not thrilled with this final recipe. It still needs work, but I kind of ran out of time. It was meant to be a goodbye cookie, and once Callie moved it took the motivation away to perfect it further. Also, she did love the final product. So I suppose it succeeded as it was meant to.

That being said, this blog should have all the attempts and failures. At least most of them. Some of these (many of these) recipes won’t be successful for a while. It’s time to really listen to Ira and decide it’s enough to know it’s a disappointment.

Breads, English Muffins

English Muffins: Whole Wheat

August 13, 2016 No Comments

I’m not sure why I started buying English Muffins. Maybe it was the memory of that chewy toast that seemed just the right size for breakfast. Maybe it was just that they were on sale. I’d been buying them regularly for a couple months when I stumbled across this recipe on NYT. The whole wheat was what caught my eye. I felt like the majority of store bought English Muffins tasted the same, and were just a vehicle. The idea of a hearty little roll-substitute sounded great.