Birthdays Everywhere!

I'm going to have to apologize, I have two chapters of Financial Accounting waiting for me so this will be a brief post. The Daring Bakers challenge this month was Tuiles, hosted by Karen of Bake My Day (cute name eh?) and Zorra of 1x umrühren .
I wasn't overwhelmed with love for these little guys. My stencil was a bit thick, so my traditional tile shapped cookies were too thick to do much with. But my little bees came out ok, and they were pretty tasty really. I'm just posting the tuiles recipe here, but I'll be posting about the awesome (oh yes, it is awesome) cake and lemon curd that went with it once I'm done with my homework. I'm sure some day I will be...

Tuiles
from The Chocolate Book
by Angelique Schmeink

1/4 c soft butter
1/2c sifted powdered sugar
dash of vanilla
2 egg whites, whisked slightly
1/2 c sifted flour

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. Slowly add egg whites while mixing. Slowly add flour, being careful not to overmix. Cover and refrigerate for 30 min.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes.
Bake 5-10 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees. Immediatly remove from pan and shape as desired. If they begin to cool and don't want to bend, just reheat momentarily.

I promise to return soon with some slightly more enthusiastic posting. Back to the books for now...

Did Someone Say Cake?

I must admit, there is an embarrassing lack of cake on this self proclaimed Queen of Cakes blog! For shame! But I honestly don't often have an excuse to bake cakes at home, preferring instead to make smaller items that can easily be pawned off unwitting victims. Lord knows any substance left in this house with sugar in it will eventually end up in my mouth, and consequently in my magically shrinking jeans. One of those mysterious laws of nature or some such thing.
I feel sometimes as if my life is just a daily quest for more excuses and opportunities to slather frosting on something, and this lucky month my husband and his best friend both grew a year older. Perfect opportunities for a full cake! Every time I do make a cake at home however I get the longing for a nice turntable. I really don't have room in my kitchen for any more baking paraphernalia, but my heavens frosting cakes without turntables is a pain.

This cake recipe is from my new best friend, Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters. There are precious few books that have made such an impression on me as this lacy little bit of sweetness. These two sisters have spent years collecting boxes full of chicken scratch recipes on index cards and yellowing cooking pamphlets put out by the likes of the YWCA in Boston back in the 20's. The pages are full both of stories about the women who collected and baked these treats and photographs of an amazing collection of antique kitchen wares. I ignored a number of other obligations and activities and sat down to read every word in between the two blue plaid printed covers. I've decided I want to adopt these women as my aunts and sit at their kitchen table listening to stories of their lives for hours on end. To get a little taste, you can check out their site. Next on my wishlist is their cook book.

I paired the cake with some peanut butter whipped cream and a chocolate frosting. Both recipes were made up on the fly, but if anyone is interested I can mostly recall the ingredients ;)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 c cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4c butter
1/4c peanut butter
1 c sugar
2 oz melted bittersweet chocolate
1 c milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350, line an 8" cake pan with parchment and grease (I use my empty butter wrappers) and flour the pan.
Sift dry ingredients.
Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugar until fluffy. And chocolate and mix well. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk and vanilla.
Bake for 45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

And the ladies had this to say for this cake "This chocolate cake comes from Rachel Bank's copy of Laboratory Recipes. Rachel's handwritten recipe shows a strong French-Canadian influence, and we suspect that she may have traveled from her home in Maine to attended the cooking school run by the Boston YWCA. As for this cake, it reminds us of a giant chocolate-peanut butter truffle"

Lemon Softies

This recent bout of sunny days has awaken in me a desire for bright and tangy treats. The lemon bars we have at work are addicting, and I'm ashamed to admit I've been eating more than my fair share these last few days. Sigh, maybe I could stick to a diet if I went and lived in a kitchenless shack with nothing but vegetables in the larder. Maybe...
This little gem of a cookie has been hiding between the pages of a Quick Cooking magazine for years now, and I'm a little sad I have only just now found it. Originally flavored with vanilla and a touch of almond, I've changed it to suit the lemon loving taste buds of both my husband and myself. These were proclaimed a winner by all.

This is a rather large recipe, so be prepared to share with the neighbors.

1c room temperature butter
3/4c sugar
2 eggs
1t vanilla
2c flour
1t cream of tartar
1/2t baking soda
1/4t salt
zest of one lemon

Sift together dry ingredients. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla slowly. Add dry ingredients and zest and mix on low until combined. Scoop or spoon onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, depending on size. Cookies should just be lightly brown around the edges.

Frosting

3c sifted powdered sugar
1/4 softened butter
juice of one lemon

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add juice slowly until desired consistency is reached. I used the whole lemon, which produced a frosting thick enough to spread with a spatula, but still soft and nearly glaze like.

Fudge Brownies

A friend recently requested I bake him some brownies. "Nothing weird in them, just chocolate" he said. He's been subjected to some of my unusual flavor combinations, so I can't really blame his fears.
I pulled out a recipe from an old job that I hadn't yet used at home, only to discover I didn't have enough eggs or the right chocolate. Undaunted, I just shrank the recipe and changed things a little. I was lazy and didn't take the time to calculate a proper revision, figuring I couldn't go too wrong. I mean, it's just brownies. I don't know if I'd say they are better or worse than the original, but they are pretty dang delicious. I'll post the original ingredients first, followed by what I ended up using. I'd say both are winners really. And the friend declared them the best brownies he'd ever had.

Fudge Brownies

Version A: use a 9x13 pan

10 ounces butter
10 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs vanilla
5 eggs
1 cup ap flour

Version B: use an 8x8 pan

8 ounces butter
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
(I used 18 squares of Trader Joe's Pound Plus 72% chocolate, which I think is around 8 ounces, but really thats just a guess)
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs vanilla
3 eggs

Melt butter and chocolate in large bowl placed over simmering water. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Add sugar and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Add eggs one at a time. Fold in flour just until combined. Pour into greased pan and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. The edges should just begin to show small cracks. Immediately place in refrigerator to halt baking.