Sweet Mouthful... sort of.

When I first started this blog I asked a few friends what my first dessert should be. I had many wonderful suggestions including: cheesecake, pavlova, and Baccone Dolce. We now know that I didn't choose any of these and instead opted for a cupcake with a cookie on top. But, for this week, I attempted to make the Baccone Dolce. If you are unfamiliar with this dessert, it is hands down the most heavenly experience you will ever have on planet Earth. So, naturally I wanted to make one. The problem is that I have never even tried to make crisp French meringue which is the foundation of Baccone Dolce. But how hard can it be?

Well, it wasn't very hard to make, but proved to be rather difficult to take off the paper. So my plans to make this incredible layered meringue dessert crumbled in a matter of minutes! AHHHH - Utter despair. Immediately I started scoping the internet for what I could have done wrong, and I have boiled it down to three possible reasons:

1. I did not use parchment paper, I used waxed paper. As a graduate student- I try to skimp on certain luxuries, including parchment paper. I should have known that parchment paper is always superior. If parchment paper and wax paper were players of a feudal system- parchment paper would be the king and wax paper would be the peasant. Needless to say, parchment paper is on this week's grocery list.

2. I did not allow the meringue to fully dry before trying to remove from the paper. Rose Levy Beranbaum suggests to actually cook the meringue for 1 hour at 200 F in the evening and allow the meringue to sit in the oven overnight with the pilot light on to allow it to fully dry. Okay "Cake Bible" writer- you have me on this one. Must learn patience.

3. Possible entry of water somehow in some step. Water is the ultimate enemy of meringue. Not sure where this could be entered into the equation, but I am assuming that having a boiling kettle next to the meringues
 when they were sitting wasn't a good thing.

Alas, I was able to pry the goodies off the pan and still plopped whipped cream, melted dark chocolate, and sliced strawberries on top. It made for a delightful pre-dinner snack even though it wasn't the real thing.

For now, the Dolce may have won the battle, but I will eventually win the war! Hopefully you will be seeing the real thing shortly, layered goodness and all. If you have any suggestions for future crisp French meringue success, please leave me a comment!

Thank you for visiting. Until next time - Happy Eating!

A compromise was reached between a person who wanted cookies and another who wanted cake.

After a very eventful weekend of running, stretching, eating, sleeping and cheering on others running- my husband and I were a little at a loss on deciding what dessert would satisfy our cravings. He wanted cookies and I wanted to make a cake! So after careful deliberation...I came up with a new cupcake flavor combination! Snicker Doodle Cupcakes anyone? How could you not like a cupcake made with a cinnamon laced golden butter cream cake batter, topped with simple whipped cream, and a tiny Snicker Doodle cookie on top? I thought it sounded pretty good. I hope that you enjoy the following recipe.

Golden Butter Cream Cake

If you love butter as much as I do, this may turn out to be your favorite cake!

Makes 16 cupcakes

Adapted from The Cake Bible

3 large egg yolks at room temperature

1/2 c heavy cream

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 c sifted cake flour

3/4 c sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

10.5 T unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, combine the egg yolks, 2 T heavy cream, and vanilla and almond extracts. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients a mix on low for 30 minutes to blend. Add the softened butter and the remaining cream until the dry ingredients are moistened. Aerate the dough by mixing at high speed for approximately 1 minute. Gradually add the egg mixture, mixing between each addition. Be sure to scrap the sides! Voila! The batter is done! Fill the cupcake cups with about 1/4 c batter and put in the oven for approximately 15 minutes. They will be very slightly browned on top when done. Set aside to cool completely. 

Snicker Doodle Cookies

Makes about 24 normal sized cookies

1/4 c softened butter

1/4 c shortening

3/4 c sugar

1 egg at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Cream the butter, shortening, and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and almond extract as well as the egg. Scrap the sides and make sure that the dough is well aerated. In a separate small mixing bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the ingredients to the medium mixing bowl, scraping the sides with each addition of dry ingredient. Mix the remaining cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl to use later.

I prefer to chill the dough for a bit but you can blaze through this step if you are in a severe cookie need. Roll the cookies between your hands and dip the rolled cookie in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the cookies to your desired sized. For garnish, you will need to roll approximately 1/2 tsp batter per cookie. Enjoy the rest of the batter and bake as normal size cookies! For the tiny cookies bake for approximately 4-5 minutes. For normal sized cookies, bake for 12 minutes.

Whipping Cream

1 pint of heavy whipping cream
2 T powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

I find that chilling the bowl and the beaters help a lot when it comes to making a whipping cream. Combine all of the ingredients and whip until firm peaks form. Chill until ready for use.

To assemble, I topped the cupcake with fresh whipped cream and one tiny cookie! Be sure to do this right before you are ready to serve. Garnish with cinnamon if desired. You, of course, have poetic license when it comes to frosting choice. I chose whipped cream because balances the buttery richness of the cake and cookie.

Thank you for visiting my blog, I hope that you have a very decadent week ahead! Happy Eating!

Hello, my name is Kara

And I like to bake. After receiving a lot of support from my friends near and far, I have decided to start my own baking blog. I often find myself day dreaming about what cake flavor combinations would go well together and I can't walk by the baking aisle without taking a detour. I routinely gawk at the rainbow display of beautiful 600 watt Kitchenaid stand mixers. And I love to waste time on Wilton's website and think about making roses out of frosting. And the day that my big sissy sent me The Cake Bible- it was the end all and be all. I am totally hooked.

While I am no baker I find it so wonderfully interesting! I generally prefer to make cupcakes but I am hoping that through this blog I will learn more techniques and in the end of it- be a better baker! So here we go... off to the kitchen to have a cup of tea, watch my husband make me dinner, and look through the cake bible while dreaming about persimmon colored kitchenaid mixers.