Things I'll Miss: Blooming

It's officially spring. I have never longed for spring as much as I have this past winter. The days are still chilly but the warm times are getting closer. The air in the city smells different, fresher. Boston is beautiful this time of year. I'll miss it, just as I'll miss the sure sign that spring has come:

Matched: Strawberry Cupcakes

There have been a million and two strawberry cupcakes showing up in my reader lately. I knew I wanted to make these cupcakes to celebrate Alex matching but I didn't know which recipe I wanted to try. I decided on Dozen Flours' recipe but tweaked it a bit (I also halved it). I coated the cupcakes with Amaretto and I topped them with a white chocolate whipped cream. Strawberries + Amaretto + white chocolate = love. The end result was incredible. The cupcake is so light and the whipped cream makes it so refreshing. I'm not a big strawberry fruit fan and I couldn't keep my fingers off these cupcakes.
Strawberry Cupcakes
Source: Dozen Flours (whole recipe here)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
5-6 oz frozen strawberries, defrosted or fresh strawberries
1/4 cup Amaretto

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tin with baking cups.

Chop the strawberries into tiny pieces and place in a bowl. Add one tablespoon of sugar and two tablespoons of Amaretto. Mix together and set aside.

In medium bowl, beat butter and the rest of the sugar with electric mixer for 3 minutes. It should be very pale yellow and and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and mix for 1 full minute on medium-low speed; be sure to scrape down the bowl a few times to ensure that everything is mixing together properly. Add vanilla and almond extract and mix again for 30 seconds.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Alternately add flour mixture and milk, in 3 batches, starting and ending with the flour. Be sure to mix well after each addition and scrape the bowl down every so often.

Mix in the strawberries on low speed plus the strawberry juice. Scoop batter into prepared pan and bake for 21-23 minutes. The surface of the cupcakes should spring back when touched and be just a little brown. You can also test doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cupcake comes out with just a few pieces of cake clinging to it. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

While the cupcakes are still warm, coat them with the remaining two tablespoons of Amaretto.

Once cupcakes are cooled top with whipped cream. Serve and enjoy!

White Chocolate Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
2 oz white chocolate

Finely chop the chocolate and place in a small bowl.

Heat 1/4 of the heavy cream until it comes to a boil. Pour over the white chocolate and let it sit for a minute. Then, mix until all the chocolate is melted and combined with the cream.

Place the remaining cream in medium sized bowl and beat on medium speed until it thickens, about 2-3 minutes. Add the white chocolate mixture and continue beating on medium speed until the cream holds firm peaks.

Match Cupcake.

Love the specks of red.

Delicious.

One of many bites.

We're Moving To...

MIAMI!!!! I am extremely happy to say that we are moving back home. This is definitely a dream come true for us. I cannot wait. Our last two months in Boston are going to be extremely eventful and our days are going to be filled with Miami dreaming. I am trying to wrap my head around everything we need to do to prep for the big move and I can't. I am so excited to be moving back to Miami. I cried when I found out and I was shaking as I opened the envelope. The best way I can describe how I felt was that it felt like I was getting married all over again. The happiness and emotions were so raw, pure, and heightened. I am so thankful to be going on this journey with Alex to be able to be by his side as he lives out his dreams. It's truly an amazing thing. We've been gone from home too long and it's time to go back. I am excited about going back to Miami with all these memories of Boston. Life is great.

The envelope. I got to open it. I was shaking.
I have never been more nervous in my life.

He matched! So proud of my Dr-to-be.
Can you see the relief in his face?

These are the words I have been waiting 6 months to see.

Today is..

...the big day and I can't sleep. In 12 hours we'll know where we'll be living for the next five years of our lives. I can't believe this day is here. I have been waiting for this day for the past six months. I need to sleep so that the next 12 hours fly by. If only I could sleep. Alex is sound asleep. Lucky him. Perla's trying to help me out by pretending to be asleep, but I know she's nervous too...

Twix Cookies

I finally made these cookies. After having them marked in Desserts by the Yard and sharing the recipe with you guys in a bake along, I made them. This is such an easy dessert to put together that leaves you feeling so good about yourself. It was one of those desserts where I kept saying, "Wow I made that!" I think I was even more impressed because I made the caramel without a candy thermometer. I still haven't gotten over breaking my last one and I want my new one to be sturdy. Do any of you have any recommendations on a candy thermometer? I winged it based on what the caramel looked and smelled like. I was afraid it wouldn't come out right, but it did! The cookie was so good. Caramel, chocolate, and shortbread are a perfect combination and these cookies do taste like Twix, but softer. The shortbread is crumbly and the caramel and chocolate are soft and creamy. So good!
Here are some tips:
-I halved the recipe and it came out fine. You'll get about 18 2x2 squares.
-Try to grind up the rice as much as possible. I ground mine but still had small pieces and you can taste some of those pieces in the shortbread.
-The shortbread puffs up so I recommend trying to make it about 1/4 inch thick.
-I used regular syrup and the caramel came out fine. Be warned...there is a lot of caramel!
-Place the cookies in the fridge! I let the cookies sit out overnight and that didn't help the chocolate set. I was afraid putting them in the fridge overnight would make them too hard, but now I realize that all they need is a good 20 minutes in there for the chocolate to harden up.

Twix Cookies
Source: Sherry Yard's Desserts by the Yard

FOR THE SHORTBREAD
51/2 ounces (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 tablespoons ground rice (regular rice processed until ground, then passed through a sifter to get rid of chunks)

FOR THE CARAMEL TOPPING
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup Lyle's Golden Syrup (available at most supermarkets and at whole foods stores)
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sweetened condensed milk

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. MAKE THE SHORTBREAD: Place a rack in the lowest position of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-X-13-inch baking pan with pan spray and line with parchment paper. Spray the parchment.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the flour and ground rice and allow the dough to come together.

3. Remove from the bowl and press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan. Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pan from front to back and bake for another 8 minutes, until the shortbread is a deep golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack to room temperature.

4. MAKE THE CARAMEL: In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, golden syrup, water, and lemon juice. Brush down the inside of the pan with a little water, using your hand to feel for stray granules of sugar. Cover the saucepan and place it over medium heat for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat, and bring to a boil. Do not stir from this point on. Keep an eye on the pan. The mixture will be very bubbly. When stray sugar crystals appear on the sides of the pan, brush them down with a clean wet pastry brush. As the sugar cooks, the bubbles will get larger.

5. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.

6. After 5 to 6 minutes, the sugar will turn golden brown. Insert a candy thermometer and when the temperature reaches 300°F, remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for 1minute, or until the bubbles subside. Carefully whisk in the heavy cream. Stir until smooth, then whisk in the condensed milk. Whisk until smooth.

7. Return the pan to the heat and stir constantly over medium heat until the caramel reaches 240°F. Remove from the heat and pour over the shortbread. Allow to set.

8. MAKE THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE: Melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl at 50 percent power for 2 to 3 minutes or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour over the caramel and smear evenly. Let sit at room temperature or in the refrigerator until set.

9. Cut into the desired size and serve. (The cookies will keep, stored airtight, for 1 day.)

All together.

I absolutely loved the caramel-chocolate edges. A cookie.So much goodness in one cookie.

The caramel was amazing.

TWD: French Yogurt Cake

I was slightly confused this week with TWD and I blame it on my concrete thinking. When I saw that Liliana of My Cookbook Addiction chose Dorie's French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze I was expecting a cake; a pretty round cake drizzle with a marmalade glaze. With this expectation in mind and with the hopes that I could serve this as a birthday cake for my sister, I waited until Friday to make and look at this recipe. Oops. This cake is baked in loaf pans and reminded me more of a pound cake. Sure it tasted like a moist and crumbly cake, it just wasn't the type of cake I thought it was. This is the type of cake you have in the morning or with a cup of coffee. I cheated just a little with the recipe because I used lemon yogurt. The recipe calls for plain yogurt but I didn't want to buy a big tub of plain yogurt and have it go to waste. I think the lemon yogurt was a great substitution because the cake tasted very lemony. I topped the cake with a strawberry glaze and this made me wish for summer even more.

Make sure to check out Liliana's blog for the recipe and the TWD site to see how everyone else did this week!

Drip.

Edge. Slices.

Moist.

Sneaky Snickerdoodle.

Do you ever have one of those days where everything seems to be going right? I had one today. Today we found out that Alex matched. We still have no idea where he matched, but at least we know that he has a residency spot somewhere. I am proud to say that my husband is one step closer to being an orthopedic surgeon. I almost cried when I found out that he matched. This was a moment that had been building up for the past 6 months or so. In addition to match, I was dismissed from jury duty. Now don't get me wrong, I believe in juries, I just don't like the idea of spending my spring break on a jury. I get enough legal talk on a daily basis. Lastly, I received an email about a position that what would be my dream position this summer. I feel like I'm on a roll today!

To celebrate all the good things I decided to make some snickerdoodles. I found Martha Stewart's recipe on The Cupcake Review (now The Sweetest Kitchen). To make things even more exciting, after all today has been a very exciting day, I decided to put a mini Reeses peanut butter cup in the middle. The result? A very good cookie! I think this will be my new favorite snickerdoodle recipe. The cookie is super soft and chewy. The Reeses in the middle was such a pleasant surprise. I love days like this. I wish every day was a day as happy as today has been.

Snickerdoodles

Source: Martha Stewart's Cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (I used 1/4 teaspoon table salt)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into twenty 1 3/4-inch balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment paper in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies.

The cookie.

The sneaky surprise.

Greek Eating

We stumbled upon Desfina a couple of years ago. We were looking for a Greek restaurant that served Scordalia and Saganaki. Those are two of our favorite Greek dishes and we fell in love with them back in Miami. We went to Desfina recently and enjoyed another Greek dinner. The restaurant is small and has a neighborhood feel. The food is whipped out quickly and it's all full of flavor.

We ordered the Scordalia and enjoyed it fully. Scordalia is pureed potato loaded with garlic. This is the type of dish you don't eat when you plan on talking to others. I think there is more garlic in this dish than there is potato.
The Saganaki was amazing, as usual. It's a wedge of Greek cheese, fried, and then flambeed with Greek liquor. The cheese is salty and scented with the lemon and alcohol flavors of the liquor.
We both ordered Gyros. There's nothing better than a gyro stuffed with feta cheese and Tzatziki. The gyro was made with a roasted pork that was also salty, tender, and falls-apart-in-your-mouth good.
Desfina is located on 202 Third Street in Cambridge. Their menu is full of traditional Greek dishes and the price cannot be beat.

More Chocolate Chip Cookies

This past week was baking perfection. Not only did I bake up some Traditional Madeleines but I also tried a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. Baking my two favorite cookies in one week made for a very happy baker and household. These cookies were quite tasty and very chewy in the middle. They were a great cookie but I'm not sure they are my favorite recipe thus far. Here are the links of the recipes (some traditional, some not) I've tried out so far:

1. Butterscotch Chocolate Chunk Cookies by Nick Malgieri
2. The Ultimate Chewy and Soft Chocolate Chunk Cookies by Regan Daley
3. Nestle Chocolate Chip Cookies (I think these may be my favorite)
4. Crisco's Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
5. The Best One-Bowl Chocolate Chunk-Pecan Cookies by Jill O'Connor
6. Milk Chocolate Chunk-Peanut Butter Cookies by Carole Bloom
7. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies on Allrecipes.com
8. Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters by Dorie Greenspan

Quintessential Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: Sherry Yard's Desserts By The Yard
Makes 48 cookies

1 1/2 cups a all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour and baking soda and set aside.

In a large bowl cream the butter until lemony yellow, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sugars and salt. Continue creaming until it is smooth and lump-free, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat on low speed for 15 seconds, or until the egg is fully incorporated. Do not overbeat. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

On low speed add the sifted flour mixture. Beat slowly until all of the flour is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the chocolate chunks and mix in.

Spoon heaping Tbsps 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake, rotating sheets from top to bottom and from front to back halfway through the baking, for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from oven and slide the parchment off the baking sheets onto a work surface. Cool the baking sheets between batches. Allow cookies to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Pretty on the inside.

It's Spring Break!

I finally get a week off from school. I am so happy to have a break and even happier that I get to spend the weekend hanging out with my baby sister :) I look forward to doing nothing but baking and relaxing for the next week! I think I'll take some notes from Perla...