Candy Corn Cookies!

I know most people, myself included, have already had their Halloween parties and are now looking forward toward Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Especially with all the snow hitting the Northeast, it seems even nature wants to push us into December. However, if you are one of the few and the proud to host their Halloween Party on the 31st or are just looking for more ways to celebrate on your own and hold on to October for as long as possible, I highly recommend making these. 

They are from a basic sugar cookie recipe, so choose your favorite. Mine is listed below and I absolutely love this recipe, it doesn't get better than these. You can also just use two packages of sugar cookie mix if you're in a hurry, but you'll lose out on that homemade flavor.

Basically, make your sugar cookie dough and divide it into three sections. Dye one orange, one yellow, and leave the other white.  

 Roll out the yellow dough into a rectangle on a sheet of wax paper. The thickness will depend on the size cookie you are hoping for. I rolled mine out to about 1/4" and made cookies that were about the size of real candy corn. For larger cookies, leave the dough thicker. 

Set the yellow aside and repeat the same process with the orange dough. It can be difficult to get it exactly the same size as the yellow, but don't worry too much. Flip the orange dough over onto the yellow dough. Be careful about how much flour you use when rolling out the dough. You want to make sure the dough slabs will meld together and if there is too much flour on the top they will stay separate and make your life difficult later on.

Repeat the process for the white dough and you will end up with something that looks like this. As you can see, my layers were not exactly even, but once you slice it up into millions of little candy corn, it's not noticeable.

Refrigerate this slab for an hour or so until it is stiff. Then cut a line of the dough and slice diagonal lines in alternate directions to make the triangle candy corn. If the colors separate when you cut them, lightly squish them back together and place on your cookie sheet. Half the candy corn will be the correct color scheme (yellow on the bottom) and half will have white on the bottom, but they still portray the right idea.

If you want thicker cookies as you move along, you can squish the slab of dough together to make it thicker and slice in the same way as before. I made a bunch of tiny cookies and then decided to have some bigger ones as well.

Bake the cookies according to your recipe. For mine this meant 400F for 6-8 minutes. Remove the cookies and cool them on a wire rack.

A bowl of candy corn - in cookie form!

No Fail Sugar Cookies 

(makes a lot)

1 1/2 cups butter, softened 

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1 Tsp vanilla

5 cups all purpose flour

2 Tsp baking powder

1 Tsp salt

• Cream butter and sugar, beat in eggs one at a time and add vanilla
• Blend in flour, baking powder, salt
• Chill for 30 min-1hr (for the candy corn I dyed them first, and rolled the slabs before chilling)
• Cut as desired and bake at 400F for 6-8 minutes - until lightly browned on edges

Roasted Pumpkin, Spinach and Gorgonzola Quiche

One of the most important trends I've noticed throughout pumpkin fest is that sweet dishes usually involve lots of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and pumpkin pie spice. Savory dishes however, use sage. This quiche is no exception.

The phyllo dough crust takes a little time but adds a great texture. If you've never worked with it before, you just buy the dough frozen at any grocery store (it's by the Sara Lee frozen pies and Cool Whip).

The quiche turned out a little moist when I served it right out of the oven, but still tasted incredible. However, I might have cooked it a little longer or let it chill to solidify a bit before serving. This was one of those dishes where the leftovers sat on my counter being nibbled at after dinner and was completely gone by the time I went to bed that night. I served it for dinner, but it would also work beautifully for brunch!

Roasted Pumpkin and Gorgonzola Quiche

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups onion, sliced thinly into half-moons
water as needed
2 cups pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
12 sheets phyllo dough, thawed as directed on package
1/4 cup olive oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed
3 ounces gorgonzola or other blue cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon sage, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon basil
1/2 tablespoon thyme
1/2 tablespoon pepper

• Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat
• Add the onions and saute until the onions are tender, about 10-15 minutes
• Reduce the heat to just a bit below medium, add 1/4 cup water, cover and cook until the onions turn a deep golden brown, about 15 minutes until they are soft and golden (Add a bit more water if it starts to get to dry)
• Meanwhile, toss the pumpkin with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Roast the pumpkin (see here for more in depth instructions on cooking pumpkin)
• Unroll the phyllo pastry - be very patient when thawing this, if it is still frozen, it will crack and break into small pieces which is wholly unhelpful
• Brush a sheet of phyllo pastry with the olive oil and place it in the bottom of spring-form pan with the ends hanging over the side of the pan and repeat with the remaining sheets placing them on top
• Mix the onions, pumpkin, eggs, milk, mushrooms, spinach, gorgonzola and sage and pour it into the crust.
• Bake in a preheated 375F oven until golden brown and set in the center, about 35-45 minutes.
• Allow to cool in spring form for 5-10 minutes then remove from springform and serve

Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

 Pumpkinfest rolls on. . . only a few days left of October to make all the pumpkin recipes I've found!

A very easy and absurdly tasty breakfast. These only take a few minutes to whip up and are sure to please whether they're made for a lazy weekend morning or a special weekday treat. 

Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 oz semi sweet chocolate baking square, chopped into chunks
1 cup 1% milk
2 Tbsp apple sauce 
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla

• Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl
• Blend milk, egg, canned pumpkin in a bowl and beat until smooth
• Combine wet ingredients with the dry and mix until there are no more dry spots - Don't over-mix.

• Heat a skillet (use cooking spray/butter if necessary for your pan) and pour batter to make 6-8 inch pancakes
• When bubbles start to form and edges firm up, flip pancake and cook on med-low heat until cooked through
• Heat oven to 150F and put cooked pancakes on pan in oven to keep first batch warm while you finish making the rest
• Top with maple syrup and serve warm with a glass of milk

 

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Frosting

                         

Sunday mornings are just about the only time I will put forth significant effort into breakfast. Last Sunday I was determined to have pumpkin cinnamon rolls (too good to be true, I know). I almost wimped out and used my usual cinnamon roll recipe that does not require yeast because I couldn't fathom waiting 2 hours to have them. My roommate convinced me to just go for it, and we had cinnamon rolls as the perfect Sunday lunch. The maple cream cheese frosting is unbelievable; I highly recommend serving the rolls with an extra bowl of it on the side for extraneous dipping.

I know they take time, but please just invite some friends over and make them, they are too good and welcome fall in such a beautiful way.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting 

Roll Dough:
1/4 cup warm water (not hot, about 110 degrees)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/3 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup pumpkin puree, either fresh or canned
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 cups (approximately) All-Purpose Flour
1 1 /4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Filling:
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each of allspice and ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Cream Cheese Frosting: 

8 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 C maple syrup

Rolls: 

• Stir yeast into water in a large bowl and stir to combine. Let rest for 5-10 minutes. If yeast is not foamy, scrap the mixture and use a fresher yeast packet (there is nothing worse than doing all this work only to have the yeast not work)
• Stir in the milk, eggs, pumpkin, butter, 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt, and spices.  Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.
• Slowly add the rest of the flour (all purpose), a bit at a time, until the dough is stiff enough to knead. 
• Begin with 1 1/2 cups of flour and increase if necessary
• Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough (I used my kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook to do this because it made my life that much easier)
• Place the dough into a greased bowl - Turn the dough in the bowl to coat the entire ball of dough with oil
• Cover with plastic wrap and rise until doubled, approximately 45 minutes
• Combine the white sugar, brown sugar, and spices in a another bowl, set aside
•  Transfer the risen dough to a lightly greased work surface, and pat or roll it into a 16" x 12" rectangle
• Melt butter and brush over dough; sprinkle with the sugar mixture
• Roll the dough into a log the long way
• Take a piece of dental floss and slide under  the log about 2 inches from the end of the log
• Bring the ends of the floss up while placing two fingers on top of the log to stabilize the roll (This gives a very clean cut to make the rolls. Slice the entire log and place roll into a greased 9"x13" pan
• Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.
• Bake in a preheated 375°F oven - Bake the rolls till they're brown around the edges and beginning to turn golden brown across the center, about 20-30 minutes

some got a little who-villesque, always good to have some character in the kitchen!

Frosting 

• Beat cream cheese, lemon juice and vanilla extract until smooth
• Slowly add powdered sugar and beat well
• Pour in maple syrup - add more powdered sugar if necessary to thicken texture 
• Generously cover the warm rolls in maple frosting and serve immediately 

Pumpkin Risotto

Though posts have been sparse lately, the exciting new creations in my kitchen have been unceasing. It seems I either have time to make the food or to write about it, rarely both. .  . But I'm going to try to be much better and post lots more of the recipes I have been sharing with my new roommate.

Currently, we are in the middle of what I have deemed Pumpkinfest. It all began when I brought home some pumpkin ale a few weeks ago and my roommate requested that we have pumpkin every day in October. I accepted the challenge and we have been quite diligent. When most people think of eating pumpkin, they think of pies or breads, but I have been exploring the many different dishes that can be enhanced with pumpkin. By keeping it varied with pumpkin themed dinners, breakfasts, desserts, and drinks, we have had an incredible October and embraced all that fall has to offer.

This was my first risotto ever and it was one of the more time consuming pumpkin dishes, but was probably my favorite pumpkin entree for the month. The pumpkin and wine go beautifully together; this is definitely worth the time and effort.

Pumpkin Risotto

3/4 cup risotto rice
1 small glass white wine (I used a white zinfandel)
1 medium white onion, chopped
1/2 C Crimini mushrooms, sliced
4-5 C Vegetable stock
2 C Pumpkin flesh
4tbsp Butter
1 small pumpkin slightly larger than a grapefruit for serving
Pumpkin seeds for garnish
1/4 C Parmesan cheese

Cook the pumpkin:
For pumpkin flesh, I recommend using a real pumpkin and not the canned puree. It is not as daunting as it seems and can be cooked in the microwave easily. You can use more complex methods if you prefer, but I am not that patient.

• Take a small pumpkin and slice it into chunks. Place the chunks into a shallow dish filled with water. 
• Microwave for 6-8 minutes. Using a fork, turn the pieces over so the other side of the pumpkin is submerged in water. Continue this process until the pumpkin is nice and squishy when you press into it with your finger. 
• Cut the peel off the pumpkin and mash the pieces into a puree with a fork or potato masher.

• Season pumpkin seeds with salt and pepper and toast in oven or toaster oven for 25 minutes at 400F 

 



Make the risotto:

• Saute the onion in a large stock pot with 1 tbsp butter, don't let them burn
• Add the risotto rice and mix well so that all the rice is coated in butter
• Pour the wine and stir the rice thoroughly to blend (I used a wooden spoon with a square end which made it easy to reach every edge of the pot)

• 

 

• 
  
• Continue to stir occasionally as the wine evaporates
• Add one cup of stock at a time, allowing rice to become almost dry between additions - be sure to stir constantly so rice does not burn
• After about ten minutes, add the pumpkin puree followed by the mushrooms
• Continue to cook as before with another laddleful of stock, making sure the risotto never sticks
• At this point, begin tasting your risotto every few minutes to see when it has reached the right texture
• When it seems about three minutes from a perfect al dente bite, remove the pot from the heat and let it rest for 1 minute covered. If you don't do this the butter will break down due to the high heat
• Cut the remaining 3tbsp butter in small teaspoon-sized chunks 
• Add the butter to the pot and vigorously mix in to incorporate the butter before it all melts
• Grate the Parmesan cheese and blend into the rice
• Place into pumpkin to serve and garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and additional Parmesan cheese 

recipe adapted from FX Cuisine 

Serve with the remaining wine and enjoy!

Chocolate M&M Cookies

As I was taking my dinner out of the oven tonight it spilled and half of my beautiful casserole fell into the oven. Thankfully I had enough for dinner and leftovers for lunch tomorrow still left in the pan, but it was depressing and forced me to clean my oven. After an hour or so of scrubbing down all the walls of the oven, I wanted to test it to make sure it wouldn't smell like burned food when I turned it on.

I remembered I had to make some birthday treats for a friend and I found some chocolate baking squares and decided chocolate cookies would be the perfect thing. I really love holidays, particularly birthdays, and not even my own. My birthday is fine, but when a friend's birthday is coming up, I spend days and sometimes weeks planning what to get them or make them. Sketches of elaborate cakes and long ingredient lists are drafted and I'll spend hours preparing things. These were not labor intensive, but they are getting sent across the country, so I couldn't make my usual fare. I did brighten them up with some M and M's that I found in my pantry, and I'm happy to say the recipe made exactly 1 tupperware's worth: perfect for shipping.

Okay... so there were two extra that wouldn't fit, which I quickly devoured. Gotta test new recipes right??

Anyway, here's the recipe. I was surprised that it didn't call for any baking powder/soda but, they turned out quite nicely. It's a great blend of moist and cakey cookies that are chocolatey but not too rich. They're really easy to whip up and only have a few ingredients. Even if you weren't expecting to do any baking, these ones are within reach on a late night.

Chocolate M&M Cookies

4 1oz. Unsweetened Baking Squares

2 C. White Sugar

2 1/2 C. Flour

3 Eggs

3/4 C. Butter

1 tsp. vanila

1 Bag M and Ms

• Microwave unsweetened chocolate and butter in 30 second intervals until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. 

• Add sugar and mix well. Blend in eggs and vanilla. 

• Stir in flour (careful not to overmix). Dough will be sticky.

• Refrigerate 45min-1hour or up to overnight until dough is easy to handle.

• Preheat oven to 350F 

• Shape into 1 inch balls, press 3-4 candies into ball.

• Bake 8 minutes or until just set. Let stand on baking sheet for 1 minute and transfer to wire rack.

• Devour.

Molasses Bran Muffins

As far as healthy things go, these little guys really take the cake in terms of breakfast muffins. They get a great amount of sweetness from the molasses, applesauce and raisins but have no added sugar or oil. I halved the recipe since which made the perfect amount of muffins for the rest of the weekend. I had some chocolate covered walnuts leftover from some baking the other night, which fed into my unending need for chocolate. But even with the added decadence, it’s still a breakfast/late morning snack to feel good about.

Moist Molasses Bran Muffins

1 cup Wheat Bran

1½ cups Whole Wheat Flour

½ cup Quick Cook Oats

¼ cup Golden Raisins

¼ cup Raisins

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 cup Milk

½ cup Molasses

3 Tbsp. Honey

¾ cup Applesauce

¼ cup chopped Walnuts

2 Eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 400F

Combine the wheat bran, flour, oats, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl, stir in the raisins and nuts

In a separate bowl, blend the milk, molasses, honey, applesauce and eggs

Divide into muffin tin and bake for 12-15 minutes, makes 16 muffins

Enjoy right out of the oven with a nice cold glass of milk!

Spinach, Tomato and Fontina Sliders: No Assembly Required.

As you may notice from the one month break in posts, it's been a hectic few weeks. I went to Spain for a week and visited a friend. We had a phenomenal time sightseeing, dancing, and even embarked on a cannoli hunt that lasted several days and concluded with a cannoli of epic proportions, but that is a tale for another time.

After that, my mother and I began a week-long road trip to drive my harp along with all my other stuff up to New York so I could move in. Since arriving, I have been frantically setting up my new apartment. I've taken on all roles - locksmith, plumber, carpenter, etc. So needless to say when it came to cooking, I needed something that was indeed, No Assembly Required. It was also taking longer than expected to get my gas turned on, so I only had a toaster oven to work with when cooking which sparked a lot of toast, warm sandwiches, and when I was feeling a bit more creative, these cute and healthy little snacks.

The recipe is too simple. Slice a tomato, put it on the toaster tray, top with a slice of fontina (or whatever other cheese you prefer). Toast until nice and melty, put on a bed of fresh spinach, and top with herbs. I did go out and buy a sleek little planter and put some fresh herbs in, so I threw on fresh oregano and rosemary (my current spice-infatuation).

These require basically no ingredients, minimal prep, and are quite delectable. So next time you need a break from unpacking, bookcase building, and all the other stresses of starting a new semester, give these a try!

Cannoli-ventures: Please, sir, I want to go to Hoboken

For spring break this past year I once again found myself in New York and thus needed a cannoli. Julie casually informed me that the bakery where the show Cake Boss is filmed is in Hoboken, NJ which isn't too far from Manhattan. We decided to embark into the unknown world of New Jersey to find ourselves a real italian cannoli provided by the overly confident and cheesy Buddy Valastro.

There was one minor hiccup. We had no clue how to get to Hoboken.

However, that's what the helpful workers at the Port Authority are for. Thus we began asking anyone and everyone who seemed knowledgeable and found our way into Hoboken on the PATH.

It was a surprisingly windy day and I was sad to have worn such a flowy dress, but as Julie and I are prone to do, we had a small photo safari before finding the bakery.

The views of the city from across the river made a fantastic backdrop and the wind, when it behaved, gave some pretty cool effects.

Starving from our exhaustive photo taking, we wandered through the streets of Hoboken. My camera had died, but we could not stop documenting our adventure. At a walgreens we saw a case of disposable cameras that brought back so many memories of childhood, we opted to indulge in the nostalgia and document the rest of the trip with that. Be warned, picture quality decreases greatly. . .

Within a few minutes we had found Carlo's Bakery. We had also found the absurdly long line to get into Carlo's bakery.

I will do many things for a cannoli, but I will not wait in a line for 3 hours unless I will be receiving some divinely created tower of cannolis where a fountain stream of chocolate sauce drips down from the top. 

There must be another cannoli in all of Hoboken, right? So we began walking through the streets stopping in every Italian restaurant or general bakery we found. One Italian place even advertised cannolis but broke our hearts by not actually having any. They directed us to a small bakery which had many Italian cookies, but no cannolis. After trying what seemed like every bakery in town, we were lost and despondent. We saw a pizza place right near Carlo's Bakery that had some desserts. Fearing yet another rejection, I hesitantly asked the guy if they had cannolis. He nodded and mumbled some form of 'yeah' and our faces lit up with childlike joy. Julie also promptly took a picture of the man who made our dreams come true that day.

Now, this was a pizza place, so the cannoli was pretty generic. The shells were pre-made and were too crunchy so that after the first bite the cannoli had crumbled into a million pieces in your hand. The cream was at least seemingly made from scratch and was pretty good. I was proud of the guy for putting a mild amount of effort into its presentation and dusting it with powdered sugar.  Overall, even if the cannoli was a little sub-par, after walking everywhere through Hoboken it was gratifying to finally end the cannoli-venture and go back to Manhattan victorious. 

recap:

date - March 27, 2011

location - Tiny pizza place, Hoboken, NJ

company - julie

food - cannoli and slice of BBQ Chicken Pizza
review - premade shell was a disappointment, but cream was satisfactory

No blowtorch needed

Like most college students, I have a healthy passion for lighting things on fire.

A few years ago my friend showed me fire soccer, the incredible sport you play by dousing a tennis ball in rubbing alcohol, lighting it and then kicking the ball around for a while. I've never been a huge soccer player, but this was one game I was always ready to play. 

 

Fireworks are great too, but they require a bit more advanced planning since unlike rubbing alcohol and a tennis ball, you cannot run into a Walgreens any time of the year and buy them. Plus, they take a lot of open space and draw lots of unwanted attention. 

This week, I decided to try another one of my favorite ways to light things on fire that remains completely contained in the kitchen. The only thing better than cake and ice cream, is cake and ice cream that is covered in meringue and lit on fire. That's right, it's time to get going with some Baked Alaska. 

I've tried making it once before, but I did it in such a hurry that I did not make the cake from scratch and used store bought ice cream. It was not very good. This time I started the day before and planned it much more thoroughly.

There are 4 main components to a Baked Alaska:

Cake

Ice Cream

Meringue

Flame

First I dealt with the Ice Cream

I refused to let my lack of ice cream maker prevent me from making my own ice cream. It is totally possible and actually quite simple so long as you are not trying to get too fancy. I chose to make a vanilla ice cream with chunks of chocolate peanut butter chip cookie dough inside. 

So I made up a half batch of cookie dough without the eggs and rolled bite sized pieces. I shoved them in the freezer for a while so they could stiffen up while I made the ice cream.

While they chilled, I got out my crappy handheld mixer and made the ice cream. I decided to make 8 small baked alaskas, so I got out my ramekins and some regular kitchen mugs and lined them with saran wrap. I divided the ice cream between the cups and let it freeze for an hour. I wanted to let the ice cream solidify a bit before adding the cookie dough so that the pieces wouldn't all sink to the bottom. I put the mugs and ramekins in the very back of my fridge and that was it. 

Now to make the cake...

  Since the ice cream usually melts a bit into the cake, I wanted a denser chocolate cake to go with the ice cream and to prevent the rum soaking into it too much when we lit it on fire. I found a great recipe for a dark chocolate mud cake that seemed perfect, especially since I still had so much dark belgian chocolate to use!

 It made just enough to fit into a 10 x 13in rectangular pan, which was all I needed for my mini baked alaskas.

Conquering the Meringue

I have a slight aversion to meringues because they're so particular that it is almost not worth it. But you can't light the cake on fire unless its coated in a meringue, so I worked through my apprehension and whipped up an absurd amount of egg whites. It could've gone better, but I managed to coat every cake with the nice white fluff, even if the last few got a little droopy.

Assembly

 I cut the cake into little circles the same size as the ramekins and plopped the ice cream on top. I assembled them one at a time because once the ice cream was pulled out of the freezer, I had to work quickly because this ice cream was very soft (that's what I get for not having an ice cream maker...). I had the meringue ready to go and I used a spatula and spread it all around the sides, ensuring to cover all the cake and ice cream completely.

Let the Flames Begin!

Okay, so most recipes require a kitchen blow torch to toast the meringue and "bake" the alaska. However, as you may have guessed, I do not have a blow torch lying around for these purposes. But, as we learned above with fire soccer, alcohol can help with a very low temperature flame that's easy to produce. I don't have a bottle of propane for a torch, but I did manage to get my hands on a bottle of Bacardi 151, which might as well be the same thing. I wanted to pour a ladle of flaming rum onto the cakes, but they were small for that much rum and I didn't actually have a metal ladle that would work. I tried using my Max Brenner Hug Mug, but that became problematic when the cup was englufed in flames. After a few trials, we found the most effective method was to spoon a few tablespoons of 151 onto the meringue and light it with a zippo. Then, just let the flames do their job and toast the sides of the meringue.

It didn't work as well as a blow torch, but it certainly made a great spectacle. Plus, since its an alcohol based fire there was no smoke and it was not super hot, so there were no problems with lighting it or setting off the smoke detector.

 

Once you light it, just let the flames extinguish themselves on the meringue and make sure there are no little unburned portions of 151 on the cake. It's quite a strong flavor to add to the cake if it doesn't burn off. 

 Overall I was very satisfied with both the amount of flames we got and am very thankful that all the little bits of flame that dropped onto the floor were so easy to blow out. . . 

I'd recommend trying this, but just make sure you take the time you need to make it happen, and stay safe -  keep flammable materials far, far away.

Recipes:

 Vanilla Ice Cream (without Ice Cream Maker)

2 C. Heavy Cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 T. vanilla extract

add-ins

• Beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form
• Gently stir in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract. Pour into container, freeze overnight.
• If adding cookie dough (recipe follows) or other add ins, let the ice cream harden in the freezer for about an hour and then stir them in. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie dough pieces 

1 C. flour

1/3 C. cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. (1 stick) butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 C. peanut butter chips

• Cream together butter and sugar, add vanilla extract. 
• Stir in flour, baking soda and cocoa powder, blend well. Add peanut butter chips and stir until evenly distributed. 
• Roll into dime-sized spheres and freeze for 30-40 minutes before adding to ice cream.

Chocolate Mud Cake from Almost Bourdain

375 g (13 1/2 oz) butter, softened

1 1/3 cups (230 g / 7 7/8 oz) brown sugar

3 eggs

2 cups (300g / 10 1/2 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

1/2 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup (80 g / 3 oz) cocoa powder, double sifted

200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate, melted

3/4 cup (180 ml / 6 fl oz) milk

• Preheat the oven to 160C (320F).
• Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes, or until the mixture is light and creamy.
• Gradually add the eggs and beat well.
• Fold through the flour, baking powder, cocoa and melted chocolate and stir in the milk.
• Spoon the mixture into a 22cm (8 1/2 in) round cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 1 1/4 hours or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
• Cool in the tin.
• Cut into desired shape to fit ice cream molds

Meringue

I don't feel qualified to actually provide information on meringues since I'm not proficient with them yet. So if you don't know how to do it already....

For the meringue-challenged

Flames

Bacardi 151 Rum

lighter

• Spoon 2-3 T. of the rum onto the meringue, light on fire and let it burn

Cannoli-ventures: Cafe Roma in Little Italy

On my 16th birthday I brought two of my closest friends to New York with me for a weekend gallivanting around seeing shows and exploring. We went on a cannoli-venture back then, but were not forward thinking enough to fully document it all. The only remnant is this victorious picture of me finally biting into it.

Years later, one of those girls, Julie, moved to New York on her own to start working and now lives on the Upper West Side. We are both believers in taking tons of photos and are passionate about Italian desserts, so she is the perfect companion to hunt with.

Last October I spent a long weekend visiting my brother and Julie and since she had just arrived in the city, we did a lot of walking arond and seeing different areas. During an afternoon in Chinatown, we ended up in Little Italy and found an incredible looking bakery that boasted having won a cannoli competition. Needless to say we were determined to try this, but we had just eaten pounds of fried rice and noodles couldn't imagine having anything more. As difficult as it was to pass up, we decided to take our chances and try to come back another time before the weekend was through.

Two days later we spent the afternoon at Coney Island giggling like small children and strolling along the boardwalk. We hit it right at sunset and it made for some beautiful photo opportunities

And what's a trip to Coney Island without exorbitant amounts of fair food. The cotton candy was 2 for 1, okay...

We returned after dinner and somehow determined that the plethora of oil and sugar that we had eaten did not subdue our sweet tooths for the night. The long subway ride back to Manhattan convinced us that a trip to Little Italy was due.

 Also, we had sworn to go back and could not give up on this cannoli goldmine. So just as they were closing we burst into Cafe Roma on Mulberry and Broome St. and got some Tiramisu and of course the requisite cannoli.

It was just as gratifying as we anticipated and we sat as the only two people in the restaurant nibbling on our desserts as the older Italian man glared at us for asking for another glass of water.

I wish I could give a more in depth critique of the cannoli, but it was too long ago to remember the details. I do wish there had been chocolate chips on the cannoli, but the cream was probably rich enough as is. Believe me, it was tasty, and though tiramisu is a new thing for me, I thoroughly enjoyed that as well. Just writing about them is making me hungry.

This ended up being one of the easier quests, even if it did take a few days from start to finish. Victory was ours, and what a delectable victory it was.

recap:

date - October 23-25 2010

location - Cafe Roma, Mulberry and Broome st.

company - julie

food - cannoli and tiramisu
review - very tasty