Vegan Baking per the lovely ladies at Babycakes NYC
December 29, 2009 at 2:35 pm | Posted in Breakfast Bakes | Leave a comment
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Which came first? Me buying the BabycakesNYC bakebook because of the great photos and art direction, or me wanting to bake something yummy for my diabetic grandmother?
The world may never know the answer to either of these questions, but all that really matters is that I finally found what I’ve been looking for: something new, fun, and challenging to broaden my baking horizons. We all know I love cupcakes and will never get enough, but I can only mix together flour, sugar, and eggs so many times before it starts to lose its luster. So why not bake something WITHOUT the likes of flour, sugar, and eggs?
Enter gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, and wheat-free baking! I wish I could post the recipe on here, but I really encourage you to go get Babycakes for yourself. It’s the most adorable cookbook I’ve seen in awhile, and Erin McKenna’s sassy narratives preceding each recipe make for a great and entertaining read.
Let me say one more thing about the baking in this book, especially coming from someone who works for a food magazine and has heard more than anyone’s fair share of readers complaining recipes not working out: FOLLOW THE RECIPES WORD FOR WORD! Baking is a wonderful but precise and scientific art, and when you replace regular flour with gluten- and wheat-free baking flour, sugar with agave nectar, and eggs and with coconut oil, you gotta make sure you do exactly what Erin says. She spent years developing these recipes, and there’s no need to tinker with them! I know the ingredient list is a little intimidating, but if you have a Whole Foods near you, you can get everything without a problem. I was pretty sure that Bob’s Red Mill Garbanzo and Fava Bean flour would be impossible to get my hands on, but there it was, right next to his Xantham Gum!
And if something does work out exactly right, then sorry, but chances are it’s your fault 
For instance, you can see in the photo that my Banana Bread collapsed a little in the middle. But I know that my oven tends to bake a little uneven, so I have to own up to that one. Just pick yourself up by the apron strings and try again!
Happy vegan baking trails to you all, and thanks to Erin McKenna for such a fun book. I hope I can make it up to NYC soon so I can stop by the bakery and experience the preciousness first-hand!
P.S. Here’s a fun video from Babycakes that gives a little bit more info on how to bake up your Banana Bread just right!
Garnish that “cup of cheer!”
December 28, 2009 at 6:50 pm | Posted in Non-baked in Birmingham, Sweet Treats | Leave a comment…with homemade marshmallows, of course! So much more delicious than the grossly over-processed stuff you get in a plastic bag. It’s so easy, and you can cut them into virtually any shape! My friend Valerie ordered some from me, and I opted for short little squares so I could tie them up into neat little stacks. I spread the mallows out to cool on a baking sheet and cut away. You can also use the baking sheet and employ some cookie cutters. But, I have to say my favorite is to cool the mallows in a 9×13 baking dish so you end up with big, fat fluffy squares. It makes them perfectly dunkable for hot chocolate sauce!
This marshmallow recipe is adapted from the lovely Jill O’Conner and her wonderful bakebook Sticky Chewy Messy Gooey. The biggest difference in my recipe comes from a great tip I got from my friend and pastry chef Loren Wood: use non-stick baking spray (i.e. Baker’s Joy) allover the baking sheet/dish. The mallows will slide right off. I also found that keeping your offset spatula (a must) well-coated with the spray will keep that freakishly sticky gloop from being more of a pain that it already is. Happy non-baking!
Classic Marshmallows
1 cup cold water
3 tablespoons unflavoured gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar for dusting
Pour 1/2 cup of the cold water into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a mixer. Sprinle the gelatin evenly over the water, half hour or so.
In a large saucepan, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of cold water, the granulated sugar, the corn syrup and the salt. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.
Increase the heat to high and let the mixture come to a boil. Cook the syrup, without stirring, until it reaches 240F on a candy thermometer. Do not allow the syrup to go past 244F or the marshmallows will be rubbery rather than tender.
Remove the syrup from the heat and slowly beat it into the dissolved gelatin with an electric mixer set at low speed. Increase the mixer speed to high and continue beating until the mixture is very thick and white but still warm – about 15 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.
Generously spray a 9/13 inch baking dish or large baking sheet with baking spray (i.e. Bakers Joy). Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan, smooth the top with a spatula (that has been liberally sprayed as well).
Let the marshmallow stand, uncovered, for 8 to 12 hours to firm up. Turn the marshmallow from the pan on to a sheet of parchment. Cut into 20 large squares. Dust each square on all sides with more powedered sugar. Store in a tightly covered container until ready to serve.
It’s Christmas…time to Bake It Pretty!
December 23, 2009 at 4:41 pm | Posted in Cupcakes are my true love, that's what Christmas means to me my love, {the atomic cakery}, {the atomic cakery} cupcake flavors | Leave a commentWhen I decided to make some cinnamon cupcakes (with always-delish 7-minute frosting) for Katie‘s Christmas party, I knew that my baking would have to take on an especially festive air. So I turned to Amanda over at Bake It Pretty for some help. What a treasure trove of adorableness that place is! It was a hard decision, but I settled on these adorable tiny aluminum Christmas trees and then some little reindeer friends to go with. Too cute, huh? I love kitsch.
Thanks SO much to John O’ for filling in for Kamin while she’s on vacay. You’re the man, and pretty good photographer to boot!
Say “Joyeux Noël!” with French Macarons
December 22, 2009 at 4:56 pm | Posted in French Macarons, Sweet Treats, that's what Christmas means to me my love, {the atomic cakery} | Leave a commentIs Christmas really this week? Wow. This year is really the first year I haven’t had much of a chance to enjoy the holidays, sad, huh? It’s just been so busy here at work and with everything else that I haven’t had much of a chance to catch my breath! But! I did get to do some fun macaron baking last week for all my friends and co-workers here at Hoffman. The Salted Caramels turned out a biiiiiiit crunchy but overall still pretty yummy, and I hear the cinnamon with eggnog filling were quite a hit.
I packaged them up in a glassine bag a tied them with packing twine and some cute labels that my husband made for me. The craft punch to make the scalloped circles is from the craft store.
Cinnamon Macarons with Eggnog Filling
3 egg whites that have either sat out for about 12 hours, or zapped in the microwave for 10 seconds, then 5 seconds
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup ground almonds*
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
*I start off with whole or slivered almonds and pulse 1/2 a cup at a time till they are as ground as I can get them, before too much of the moisture is released. Remember, moisture=bad for your macs. Then, I throw in half of the powdered sugar and continue to grind, because this will help soak up the moisture from the almonds and also get them ground up some more. It’s pretty genius, I have to admit.
Combine almonds, powdered sugar, and cinnamon in food processor and pulse till almonds are a powdered.
Whip the egg whites on high till they are foamy, then add in the granulated sugar one tablespoon at a time. Whip till glossy.
With a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe small circles onto a parchment-lined baking tray. Let them sit out for about 20 minutes till they achieve shells, and then pop them into a 375F oven for approximately 14 minutes. Check for doneness after 12. How do you know they’re done? They’ll look cute and the pieds (cute feet characteristic of a macaron) will look slightly underdone.
Allow to cool for a few minutes and transfer them to another baking sheet and fill with Eggnog buttercream.
Eggnog Buttercream:
3/4 cup (more or less to taste) eggnog
2 cups (more or less to desired consistency) of your favorite buttercream (I used Swiss Meringue)
Mix together!
Salted Caramel French Macarons
3 egg whites that have either sat out for about 12 hours, or zapped in the microwave for 10 seconds, then 5 seconds
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup ground almonds*
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
*I start off with whole or slivered almonds and pulse 1/2 a cup at a time till they are as ground as I can get them, before too much of the moisture is released. Remember, moisture=bad for your macs. Then, I throw in half of the powdered sugar and continue to grind, because this will help soak up the moisture from the almonds and also get them ground up some more. It’s pretty genius, I have to admit.
Combine almonds and powdered sugar in food processor and pulse till almonds are a powdered.
Whip the egg whites on high till they are foamy, then add in the granulated sugar one tablespoon at a time. Whip till glossy.
With a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe small circles onto a parchment-lined baking tray. Let them sit out for about 20 minutes till they achieve shells, and then pop them into a 375F oven for approximately 14 minutes. Check for doneness after 12. How do you know they’re done? They’ll look cute and the pieds (cute feet characteristic of a macaron) will look slightly underdone.
Allow to cool for a few minutes and transfer them to another baking sheet and fill with Eggnog buttercream.
Caramel Buttercream:
1/3 cup (more or less to taste) store-bought caramel ice cream topping
2 cups (more or less to desired consistency) of your favorite buttercream (I used Swiss Meringue)
2 tablespoons (more or less to taste) coarse Kosher salt or course sea salt (I prefer sea salt)
Mix caramel and buttercream together and pipe onto half of the macs. Sprinke with salt and then top with the other half of the macs. Remember that a little bit of salt goes a long way, so you’ll have to do some taste-testing 
I also sprinkled some salt on top of the macarons and found that it actually stuck pretty good.
Empress Stationery + Atomic Cakery collab
December 18, 2009 at 6:52 pm | Posted in Bridal Fare, Cake Decorating, Cupcakes are my true love, Friends are friends forever!, {the atomic cakery} | Leave a commentDon’t you love how I abbreviated “collaboration” in the post title? It’s so trendy to abbrev these days. What can I say? I am trendy. Yeah.
A couple weeks ago some of my coworkers joined together for an afternoon of creative craziness and had a holiday bazaar where we sold our wares to each other, other colleagues, and the lucky people in our office park. I’m really, really upset that I didn’t get pictures of everybody’s booths, because they all blew my mind. Everything from Lydia‘s oil paintings to Breanne‘s scarves to Tracy’s felted dolls and gingerbread man ornaments, it was a pretty incredible sight to behold!
Jessica, you know her, my friend and proprietress of Empress Stationery, joined forces with Atomic to create a pretty cute cupcake display. Aren’t these AMAZING?! Not sure what her prices are exactly, but send her a line and ask her, because you’ll definitely want some of these at your next get-together.
We’re planning another Crafternoon for the Summer, so stay posted!
French Macarons for the Twinsleys
December 16, 2009 at 4:05 pm | Posted in French Macarons, Friends are friends forever!, Sweet Treats | 1 CommentI’m so excited!! Our best friends Ruth and David Tinsley are expecting the arrival of their identical twin girls {aka the Twinsleys} Piper Lee and Harper, any day now! Last month we threw a big shindig for them, and I thought it’d be fun to make some mac flavors/colors that coordinated with the invitations {designed by the amazing Brandi Etheredge}. So from top to bottom we’ve got classic vanilla, crème de menthe {sans alcohol of course, this was a baby shower after all}, and chocolate malt. MMMmmm….
Want some? Then email me and place an order!
This is a sad post.
December 9, 2009 at 4:03 pm | Posted in Cake Decorating | 1 CommentOk, blogosphere, I’m just gonna come clean. Gumpaste flowers are effing hard to make. I can make guitars and treasure maps out of fondant. I can make a car and its passenger out of gumpaste. But nary can I make flowers. I thought I could. I tried. I almost made it. But I failed. Ok, I feel better now.
Erin, sweet, sweet Erin Eades Francisco, I’m sorry. Your wedding cake dogwood almost came into fruition, and here’s proof. What you’re not seeing is where this one broke in half whilst trying to be salvaged. These 8 pieces met the garbage can after I sat on the floor and cried a little bit.
But I will not give up! I WILL be the Ron Ben-Israel of the Southern United States. Just wait!
Cute Coasters
December 7, 2009 at 4:49 pm | Posted in Home Is Where My Heart Is, Just Because | Leave a commentSure, they stayed covered up by a glass half the time, but that’s no excuse to have unsightly coasters. I love these from Fishs Eddy, one of my favorite e-tailers ever!
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