can't live without: my silpat baking mats

see that little mat under my snickerdoodle cookie ball? i never, ever make cookies without these anymore. i LOVE my silpat mats. not only are they the best thing to line your cookie sheets with to bake cookies, you can put caramel corn or anything sticky without having to grease and cleanup is a cinch. i even have a roul-pat for rolling out biscuits, pie shells, bread and dough of any kind.

here is the maintenance instructions found online:

Maintenance and Care
Wipe the Silpat® with a damp sponge after each use to remove crumbs or particles. If washing is required, lay the Silpat® in the sink and run warm water over surface. Use a Demarle approved detergent or a mild soap with a soft sponge to clean the surface. Do not use any scrapers or hard brushes to clean the Silpat®. Shake off excess water and hang or lay flat on surface to dry.

**i never use any special detergent, just mild soap**

Storing
Store the Silpat® flat on a tray, hang them with a clothing pin, or roll them up (do not fold or place heavy objects on top of rolled Silpat®).

Precautions
- Never cut or use sharp objects on the surface.
- Do not fold or store in a folded position.
- Do not grease.

pretty easy right? seriously, one of the best things that has ever happened to me in the kitchen.

coconut butter cookies

these little dudes are a huge sensation wherever they go. and they keep fairly well. it's one of my new favorite cookie staples. what's not to love? coconut and butter is one of the best combinations known to mankind. pretty easy to make but you have to have a food processor. i only have a little one, so i had to be tricky about how to make the dough and put it back and forth into the processor. here is the recipe:

1 pkg. (14 oz.) sweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chilled, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour (i used 1/2 cup of wheat and the rest white)

preheat oven to 350°. set aside 2 loosely packed cups of coconut on a plate. Place remaining coconut in food processor along with sugar, salt, and baking powder; process until finely ground. add butter, and process just until no lumps remain. add egg and vanilla; process just until smooth. add flour; pulse until a crumbly dough begins to form, scraping sides of bowl as needed (do not over-mix).

roll into balls, coating with coconut. (that didn't work well for me so i threw most of the coconut back in the bowl and mixed it around with my hands till it was pretty evenly dispersed.)

bake until lightly golden, 20-25 minutes. (i checked them at 15 - and i think that was plenty of time) cool on baking sheets 1-2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

these are obviously best right after they cool, but i made them the night for my friend jessica's darling little baby girl, malina. it was her 1 year birthday party, which was the next day. to keep them fresh and maintain the texture as much as possible, i wrapped them all together in wax paper, then again in cling wrap. it worked pretty well and i'm a stickler for maintaining texture. if anyone has any tricks they try for that sort of thing, i'd love to hear what you think works best for you.

can't live without: my microplane grater

i got this for christmas (most of my christmas presents these days involve kitchen accoutrements at this point in my life-much to my delight) a while ago and i use it all the time. it's great for hard cheeses (gruyere, i love you), citrus zest and things of that nature. there is also an extra course version, which i use from time to time as well. i love this thing and i recommend it highly. i kept the cover it came with cause it's pretty sharp and with clutzyness like mine, you can never be too careful.

bake shop, re-mixed

ok, so it's been a minute. and i apologize.

like i said, work has been busy, and my health hasn't been great. in the interim, i decided to change things up on the blog. i feel like i'm running out of recipes and i can never make anything twice cause i already blogged about it. so i'm going to start reviewing kitchen gadgets and appliances. letting you know what i think is worthwhile and what i can't live without. also, i want to review other food joints. bakeries, restaruants, etc. in addition, i was thinking about taking requests. i know bracken asked about molten lava type cakes. i tried something i didn't like so i didn't post it, however, now i can post stuff i try and tell you what i think worked and why. and try to tweak stuff a bit more without expecting perfection so people don't copy down sub-par recipes. sort of like a test-kitchen process. are you picking up what i'm putting down? let me know what you think and give me your feedback, if you don't mind.

hearts,
-caroline

in case you haven't noticed...

... i'm on hiatus.

sorry dudes. i blame a busy work season and a weak immune system.

vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

i needed to make some cupcakes for my friend's baby shower and she likes white cake and white frosting. so i looked all around to find a recipe that wansn't too airy or too dense. and i wanted to do a cream cheese frosting. so i found this recipe on cupcake bakeshop.

i adjusted it to fit the ingredients i had on hand.

3 Vanilla Cupcakes
20 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

3/4 cup (1-1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1-2/3 cups vanilla sugar (i just used regular sugar)
2 large eggs, room temperature
2-2/3 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out (i didn't have this so i just doubled the vanilla extract)

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
3. Measure the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
6. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3’s full. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake cupcakes for about 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

For the frosting:
Beat 8 oz. cold cream cheese (not rock solid, but it means you can use it straight out of the refrigerator) with 5 Tbsp. softened butter and 2 tsp. vanilla until combined. Gradually add 2 c. powdered sugar that has been sifted after measuring. Continue to add more sifted powdered sugar until you reach a consistency and sweetness that fits your
taste.

peanut butter and jelly bars

i found this recipe on one of the baking blogs, bake or break, that i subscribe to on my trusty google reader. they are originally from martha stewart's cookies. they are easy to make and not too bad if i say so myself.

1 cup butter, softened, plus more for preparing pan
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for preparing pan
1 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 & 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 & 1/2 cups strawberry jam (or other flavor)
1 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped


Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9x 13 baking pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Butter the parchment and dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

Beat butter and sugar together on medium speed of an electric mixer. Mix for about 2 minutes, until fluffy. Add eggs and peanut butter, and beat about 2 minutes or until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add to butter mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Add vanilla and mix.

Transfer two-thirds of dough to pan and spread evenly. Spread jam on top of dough. Crumble remaining dough on top of jam. Sprinkle with peanuts.

Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until golden. Rotate pan half-way through baking. Tent loosely with foil if bars are getting too dark.

Cool on a wire rack. Run a knife around the edges to loosen. Refrigerate 1-2 hours. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Makes about 3 dozen bars.

mama's cafe

i recently had the opportunity to go to my favorite place for work (san francicso - what i'll always think of as my home) and we were able to find the time to eat at my favorite breakfast place, mama's cafe. here are a few pictures.

there is always a line outside, wrapping around the corner. it usually moves pretty fast, and since it's in north beach, there are always fun things to look at to make the time go by quickly. old asians doing thai chi on the grassy square across the street, the gorgeous st. peter and paul church and just the general area off columbus street. once you get up to the door, they ask you how many in your party and you get asked inside. finally! you watch these guys preparing the amazing food you are about to eat and look over the incredible options and then order. it's cash only so be prepared for that. then you are directed to a quaint table and salivate while you patiently wait for your food.

this is the pan dore. i typically order this because it's so unique and so good. so good, in fact, when i had my mom try it, she figured out how to replicate it and i always ask for that when i go home, too.

i added their home-made huckleberry jam that i always want to buy when i go there. they don't typically sell it but they said next time, if i bring a jar, they might possibly sell me some. i would imagine it costs a small fortune, but would be worth every penny.

so that is my tour of one of my very favorite places to eat, ever. you should make a point to go there, if it's ever possible.

grandma ruth's cinnamon rolls

i've made my fair share of cinnamon roll recipes, but i've never made these ones because they intimidated me. now that i feel more comfortable with making yeasty breads, i was craving some so i busted these out.

the thing i love about these is they don't get tough and dry the next day like other recipes. i will definitely make these as my cinnamon roll of choice, but maybe make a recipe and a half of the frosting to have more to work with, the second pan of these got the shaft with the amount of frosting they received.

scald: 2 cups milk (i researched this and there is no reason to scald the milk, i would just warm it up so it melts the next ingredients)

add: 2 rounded teaspoons salt
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
let stand until warm

in separate bowl:
2 beaten eggs
2 T. yeast dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water and 1 t. sugar

now add milk mixture.
add:
6-7 c. flour until it just curls and handles easily.
drop dough on floured surface and knead a few times adding flour if necessary. put in lightly buttered bowl, cover and let double (about 1 hour). punch down and let come up again (give it about 15 minutes). divide into two and roll on floured board one half at a time. melt 2 T. butter and spread on dough then sprinkle with sugar mixture (1 cup brown sugar and 4 t. cinnamon). roll and cut into 16 rolls. repeat with remaining half.
place rolls on lightly greased pan and tuck under ends. let rise and then bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes. frost while hot out of the oven.

frosting:
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. evaporated milk
1/8 t. salt
2 T. flour

cook until thick, stirring constantly. add:
1/4 c. butter
1 t. vanilla
2 c. powdered sugar (sifted to avoid lumps)

spoon one tablespoon of frosting on each hot roll.

dear fried plantains,

i love you and i think about you all the time.

with love,
caroline.

image courtesy of laylita's recipes.