Bacon Bird Nests, Tarts and Peeps, Oh My!

Brunch is definitely my favorite meal. So what's better than a holiday that's all about brunch? That's why Easter is my most favorite holiday! This year, I celebrated with mimosas and a feast.
Here's what was on the menu.

• Peeps on a Stick!
• Fruit Tarts
• Marbled Easter Eggs
• Bacon Bird Nests!

Peeps on a Stick!!!

This was just fun to do. Reminds me of the Peeps Diorama contest my roommies and I entered back in DC.
All you do is melt some chocolate chips in a double boiler. I added a bit of milk to make the chocolate a bit more runny. Then dip the Peeps in and toss on some sprinkles.

I laid them on parchment paper while I finished dipping all the Peeps. Wanted to finish that before the chocolate hardened. Then I made a hole in the middle of the Peep with a BBQ skewer, then dipped the end of the skewer in the chocolate and back into the Peep. I thought the chocolate might help like glue. Then put them in the freezer to make the chocolate harden faster. Filled a vase with fake grass and arranged them for the center of the table. I got the idea from somewhere on the internet but I can't remember where.

Cheating Tarts

These are cheating tarts because they are just so easy (and I use store-bought crust). In this recipe, I used my favorite secret weapon when cooking for a crowd, Pepperidge Farms Pastry Sheets. I rolled out some of this dough and covered my little tart tins. I wished I had my pie weights... When baking blind (without a filling), the crust can rise  and doesn't leave any room for the cream. Instead of using pie weights, I pricked the dough several times with a fork and then again half way through the baking time. I baked them at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, pricked the bases down, then baked for another 5-10 minutes. Since the bacon nests were also baked at 400 degrees, I could alternate getting the tarts ready while baking bacon, and visa versa.

The next day, I made some chantilly cream (just a fancy way of saying whipped cream) and topped them with fruit. Easy- Peasy! My tarts from Easter a couple years ago were a bit better, though a bit more complicated.

Marbled Easter Eggs

Another crafty food project was decorating Easter eggs. Actually, the boiled eggs went well with the next dish too :) I stole this idea from Martha Stewart but went the easy route and bought the egg decorating kit from the supermarket. I made all the colors with the dye and vinegar in plastic cups. Then after I'd done one base coat of color, I added vegetable oil (Martha Stewart says to use olive oil but vegetable oil worked just fine, no use wasting olive oil in egg dye) to the cups and dunked the eggs again. The oil made it so the second dunk didn't completely coat the egg. I think they turned out real purdy.

Bacon Bird Nests

Ok all you baconphiles, this is the post you've all been waiting for! I got this idea from notmartha.org. I took three strips of bacon and laid them side by side. Then I took another strip of bacon and wove it between the others. Then cut off the excess and used it for more weaving. When it was about three pieces by three pieces, I wrapped it around an upside-down muffin tin. I highly recommend wrapping the tin with lots of aluminum foil.

Also recommend having another baking sheet underneath the muffin tin (also with aluminum foil) to catch the grease and not leave a mess in your oven. I cooked them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. I let them cool and stored them in the fridge over night. The next day I put them in the toaster oven on the toast setting for about 5 minutes. I had varying degrees of success in keeping the cup shape. The toaster oven did crisp up the bacon but it didn't hold it's shape well. Then I tried reheating on the muffin tin in the oven. That held it's shape more and I recommend that for future reheats. The bacon also shrinks a lot so the cups tend to be pretty shallow.









In a separate bowl, I tossed some arugula with a balsamic vinaigrette and added two cherry tomatoes as "eggs". Wha-la! You've got Bacon Bird Nests!

Rainy Sunday

On this rainy fall day it seemed like a good idea to get some baking in. This soup recipe was passed on to me from another Angela in my knit group. I changed it a bit.

Sweet Potato Apple Soup

• 3 small sweet potatoes
• 1 1/2 apples
• 3/4 large onion
• 1/2 can lite coconut milk
• 1 tsp curry
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• salt and pepper to taste

Roast veggies in the oven at 350 degrees until soft. Simmer the veggies in the vegetable broth with the coconut milk and spices until cooked all the way through. Then blend.

The soup is good but a bit sweet for my taste. Next time I'm going to try it like this.

• 4 small sweet potatoes
• 1 large yukon potato
• 1 apple
• 3/4 large onion
• 1/2 can lite coconut milk
• 1 tsp curry
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 cups vegetable broth 

 

Spicy Cauliflower

• 1/2 head of cauliflower
• 3 garlic cloves
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• ~1 tsp of chilli powder
• ~1 tsp cumin
• ~1/4 cup of bread crumbs
• pinch of olive oil

Cut cauliflower and garlic cloves and put in a bowl and toss with some olive oil. Sprinkle the spices over the cauliflower. Toss a bit more olive oil and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees until fully cooked.

This recipe is a mix of a couple different recipes I found online like this and this. It is pretty spicy! I might leave out the cayenne pepper next time.

GRANOLA!

look at those grains!

 I've made this several times. You can check out my original post here.  I made some small changes but the most important update is the temperature and time in the oven. I have a bad habit of over cooking it so turned the heat down and the time in the over.

• 6 cups rolled oats
• 1 3/4 cup oat bran
• 1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 flax seeds
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes, stir, then bake for another 15 minutes.

It's Easter Dammit!

I love Easter Brunch. I've been having hosting some sort of Easter brunch for 14 years now! This year when it was the day before Easter, I was so sick I had to have a friend drive me to the grocery store. She said, "Uh, maybe you ought to cancel brunch." But I didn't want to! In the end, I postponed it and had it this past Sunday. I called it, "It's Easter Dammit!" I'm so glad I waited cause I was able to enjoy myself. Good friends, good food, good times. Look at that spread!

pancakes, bacon, fruit, cinnamon rolls, baked brie, croque monsieurs, mimosas, oh my!

My contribution to brunch was oatmeal pancakes, grapefruit ginger curd and mixed berry syrup. The grapefruit ginger curd turned out really good. One of my friends was actually eating it by the spoonful by the end of the brunch. I'll take that as success.

I took the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, 101 Cookbooks. I modified the recipe slightly below. I doubled the recipe but now I realize, I didn't double the eggs! (below is exactly what I did) Perhaps that's why it wasn't that thick. I also couldn't figure out how to make the ginger juice. I tried to grate the ginger to make the juice but hardly made any juice. So I added some of the grated ginger. I think I could have used a lot more.

 

Grapefruit Ginger Curd

1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp / soft
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks, preferably room temp
2 large eggs , preferably room temp
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon grated ginger


The directions say to simmer the grapefruit juice in a small saucepan, reducing to 1/2 cup. But I didn't have time, so I just left it as is. (which was the appropriate amount for doubling the recipe)

step 1 - fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

Cream the butter in a medium stainless steel bowl. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy and light. Add the yolks, and then the eggs one at a time, beating well. Stir in the salt, and then gradually add the grapefruit juice, lemon juice, and ginger juice.

Make a double boiler out of saucepan and the stainless steal bowl. (Fill the saucepan 1/3 full and bring to a simmer) Stir constantly, and heat the curd slowly enough that the sugar has time to dissolve. This takes at least 10 minutes, maybe it took me longer because I didn't use enough eggs. Pull the curd from the heat when it is just thick enough to coat your spoon. Your curd will thicken as it cools.

irish cream in my coffee, don't mind if I do

101 Cookbooks says it keeps refrigerated for a week, or up to a month in the freezer. But it didn't last that long at brunch! Check out her recipe for more tips.


Notes for next time: I thought it tasted a bit too sweet. Even though she mentions in her blog that she left hers tart, I think I'd start with 1/2 cup of sugar. I might try it without the lemon juice next time. I'd like to add more ginger. I thought the grated ginger would be more potent so I didn't add much maybe not even a 1/4 teaspoon. I need to figure out how to actually make ginger juice.


Now this pancake recipe is from my mom. I don't know where she got it. I also doubled the recipe for brunch. They were a good hearty base for some sweet-treat toppers. I'd say that they are ok but not amazing.

 

Oatmeal Pancakes

1/2 cup flour (add more as needed)
2 cups quick oats
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups buttermilk (I always make my own)
4 tablespoons of melted butter
2 large eggs

Combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl combine the wet ingredients. Then combine together. Use cooking spray to line the pan and cook them up!

Mixed-Berry Syrup

frozen mixed berries
real maple syrup

This is easy. Heat the berries slowly in a saucepan.  They will create their own juice. Add some maple syrup to sweeten. Pour over your pancakes. It was a good compliment to the curd too.

There you go - a good start to a brunch. Don't forget the mimosas!

The Sweater Challenge - I did it!

Sorry to keep you all in suspense but I did it! Yup, I finished my Dad's sweater in time to give it to him just before we went to Costa Rica for his 70th birthday. Too bad, it's not cold anymore for him to get some real use out of it this winter (sigh).

Homebrew Floats

A last weekend, I had my Housewarming and Beer Reveal Party where I released my first batch of homebrew ever! I got interested in brewing beer in DC when I helped a friend of mine, brew and bottle his beer. My beer turned out great! It was really rich with hints of chocolate and coffee, my two favorite things. The taste of my two favorite things in my favorite kind of beer, how could it get any better? But wait, then we made homemade ice cream and made homebrew floats! They were pretty fantastic.

Homebrew Stout Float Cheers!

I blogged about making ice cream last year (memorable day, there was an earthquake in DC). In that blog, I recommended my ice cream maker, the Mega Ice Cream Ball. But now I'm taking that back. We used the Mega Ball to make this ice cream and it is fun thing to do in a group cause everyone takes a turn and shaking the ball the make it. But this time, I couldn't get the top off to empty the ice. I used the tool to open it and by accident screwed it on instead of off and now there's no way to open it. I just had to throw it in the trash :( Now I'm in the market to buy an old fashioned crank ice cream maker. Keep your eyes peeled at garage sales for me!

The Sweater Challenge - The Countdown Continues

Well, I have 5 days left and I it's looking like I could make it. However, the next two days are going to be a wash because it's St. Patrick's Day weekend. Tomorrow the fun begins at 10am! So that really leaves 3 weeknights. Yikes!

I'm almost done with the left arm. I need to cast on the collar and figure out how to do the i-cord trim and button holes. Wish me luck!

almost done with the left sleeve

The Sweater Challenge!

Holy crap, I've had this blog for over a year now and I haven't yet blogged about sweaters. It's half the blog's namesake! You can tell how big my sweet tooth is :) Well now I've issued myself a 10-day sweater challenge. I started knitting this sweater the day after I moved into my new place in Chicago (Thanksgiving day weekend). I need to finish it by March 21st, cause it's for my dad. It was supposed to be a Christmas present. I wrapped it up for Christmas, when he opened it up the torso was finished up to the armpits. But since then, I haven't been as diligent as I should have been to finish it. Next week my Dad is coming down to Chicago for his birthday.

This is the final countdown. Can I do it? Ok enough blogging, back to knitting!

right arm almost finished, left arm not even started....

So many desserts, so little time - Ginger Pear Cake

I just spent a few days cooking on one of our ships. It was intense, lots of planning, several different dietary needs, along with a strict ship schedule to adhere to. Not to mention, 40 mouths to feed. Phew! :) I wanted to make desserts but just didn't have the time. So when I came back to land, I just wanted to bake and bake and bake! This is a recipe, I had planned on trying on the ship.

Ginger Pear Cake
4 cups peeled, cored and chopped pears - I used 4 Bosc Pears
1 cups white sugar - I used  scant cup
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour, you will need a bit more if you let the mixture sit overnight -  I didn't need more but it's a good reminder
1-2 inch knob of ginger peeled and grated on a micro plane grater about 1 tablespoon - I used 1 inch next time I will use more
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice - I didn't have pumpkin pie spice so I used another teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of allspice and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
3 whole eggs
2/3 cup canola oil - I also didn't have canola oil so I used a bit less of olive oil
1 cup chopped pecans - pecans are expensive, I used walnuts

Directions

1. Combine the pears, sugar and fresh ginger and let stand for one hour or overnight

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray a 10 inch bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Slightly beat the eggs and combine them with the oil, chopped pecans and pear mixture.

4. Stir the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and Pumpkin Pie Spice. Stir in the pear mixture. Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan. - I didn't have a bundt pan so I used a bread loaf pan and a regular cake pan. (Note from the original cook, I let my pear mixture macerate overnight and had to add about an extra 1/2 cup of flour to the mix or it would have been very runny)

5 .Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

 

It turned out very moist, a bit like banana bread. In the future, I may want to smash the pears or cut them a bit smaller. I may also make a ginger glace or serve it with whipped cream to make it more like a traditional cake. But will be perfect to bring into the office tomorrow for some sweets to go with their morning coffee :)

Stained Glass Cookies

Well, hello blog. It's been a long time. I recently moved so this is my first blog in my new place! I made some classic sugar cookies for our office holiday party with a new twist. The twist is the stained glass centers! I can't take credit for this idea, I did steal it off another website but I was surprised at how easy it really is and how nice looking they turned out.

  

I modified the Best Rolled Sugar Cookies recipe from Allrecipes.

Ingredients

•  3/4 cup butter, softened
•  Just shy of one cup of white sugar
•  2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Jolly Ranchers

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. (1/2 inch works better with these cookies) Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. 

Place cookies 1 inch apart on parchment paper on cookie sheets. Cut the centers out of the cookies. It's best if you can do this on the sheet so the cookies remain their original shape.

Put Jolly Ranchers in a plastic bag and smash with a hammer. (Oh, how I love cooking with hammers). Sprinkler the Jolly Ranchers in the center of the cookie, better to have more than not enough to cover the area.  

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely. Then peel off the parchment paper and serve!

Earth Shakin' Ice Cream!

Well I drafted this blog a long time ago and you're going to know how behind I am on this with the next sentence. The day after I made the ice cream, an unexpected thing happened, an earthquake in DC!  I made ice cream for a buddy at work for his birthday. Just as a few of us were sitting down in the kitchen to eat it - the earthquake shook us all up! We just sat there stunned for a sec. The metro goes right below our building and sometimes I can feel that. I wondered just for a sec, did the metro trains collide? Then someone yelled at us to get into the door frames. That was the end of it and we all evacuated the building. My friends took the ice cream with them. I think that must be a pretty good compliment to my ice cream, if your friends take it with them when the evacuate a building.

Alright back to the oh so old blog.

I have purchased an ice cream ball, like this one. And I have to say it's fantastic. I did the inaugural "churn" a couple months back at a friend's BBQ. It was a great thing to do sitting around the table, drinking beers, taking a turn at shaking it while the food was grilling. By the time the food was ready, we had ice cream! That time, I did just vanilla ice cream. This time I made up my own recipe :)

Cookies and Cream Homemade Ice Cream
1 quart of heavy whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1 tbls vanilla
oreo cookies
1 cup of rock salt or kosher salt
1 bag of ice (or at least 8 trays)

Put the ice and salt in the ball part of the container. Pour the sugar and whipping cream together into the inside cylinder part while stirring. Add the tbls of vanilla. You can stop there if you want and just make vanilla ice cream. I put some oreos in a bag and took a hammer to them!

Then dumped the crumbs into the cylinder. Close the lid and get your work out! I had my two room mates help me cause it is a lot of shaking. Easy to put the ingredients together but it takes some muscles to make. The box says it takes a half an hour but I think it takes at least an hour.

before I started the shaking! really is cookies and cream

Periodically, you'll need to open the lid and scrape down the sides. The ice cream will form around the sides. I recommend you take the ice cream from the sides out and place in a container and put in the freezer. This will help the rest of the cream form into ice cream.

after about 30 minutes

I added more oreos, stirred it up a bit and continued to shake it up! You may also need to drain out some of the water and add more ice and salt.

look at all that ice cream!

I'm always amazed at the end that it actually does taste like ice cream. It's hard to believe that all you need is cream, sugar, ice, salt and a bit of shakin. It's even better than store bought ice cream, it's so creamy and nothing artificial. Yum!!

My Sunday Night Doodles

The other day I felt like doodling. Here's some owls.

On My Summer Vacation

Remember when teachers used to have you write a journal entry on what you did on your summer vacation? Well, that's how I feel writing this blog. I went home for a week and helped my mom design a new dress. I perfected the skill of making "yo-yos"! This is my real first craft blog to give authenticity to the "sweaters" part of the name.

How to make a Yo-Yo
Cut out a circle of fabric. Any size will do. I used a ring of masking tape as a stencil.
Thread a need, double strand.
With the wrong side face up, turn the edge in a quarter of a inch and start stitching the side. You should stitch it loosely close to the edge of the circle.

Keep turning the fabric in on the sides and stitch the needle so that you're stitching the extra folds in (it will fold in on itself because it's a circle)

When you've gone all the way around, pull the thread through and make it ruffle together. The yo-yo will fold into itself and be half the size that you started out with.

see the little blue piece of fabric in the middle

I suggest cutting another small piece of cloth and put it inside the yo-yo for an added bit of color. The smallest yo-yos don't need this because the fabric will tighten together in the middle but all other yo-yos will have a bit of a gap that is best to cover the inside of the yo-yo as it's the wrong side of the fabric. Then do the final closure and tack the ruffles down on the back with the leftover thread.

yes the pictures were taken on a beach towel, I was being crafty at the beach. It was my summer vacay!

Then we sewed them on her dress

Christmas in Summer Salad

This is my new favorite lunch sidedish. I got the idea from a buffet item at Whole Foods. I call it Christmas in Summer Salad!

It's really fast to make. All it is:

• orzo
• kale
• red pepper
• italian seasoning (like this)
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• salt 
• black pepper
• garlic cloves

I start by cutting the kale up in really small pieces. Then I steam the kale for a few minutes. After the kale is done, I use the same boiling water to cook the orzo. While the orzo is cooking, I dice the red pepper. I also pour some olive oil in a bowl and add a splash of balsamic vinegar. I love my Italian seasoning grinder! I use it on almost everything. I grind a generous amount in the oil. Then add some salt and grind some black pepper. Then I press one or two garlic cloves and add it to the oil. After the orzo is done, I rise it and let it sit a bit. Then I stir all the ingredients together.

I feel so British - Lemon Curd Tarts

I made lemon curd tarts! I always think of the UK when I hear "lemon curd." Maybe because the first time I remember hearing about it was from some British backpacker in Australia. She was going on and on how lemon curd is just the best with pancakes. And I think they way she was describing pancakes they were more like crepes than pancakes. Silly Brits. Anyways, I made some lovely tarts from my new book that simply called, tarts by Sarah Banbery.

I baked the tart shells blind. Then made the lemon curd. It was very easy, just butter, eggs, sugar and lemon juice. The pie crust was terrible to make. I don't recommend that recipe or I didn't add the correct amount of water. It was so hard to roll out and keep together. The little tart tins were helpful because I could just mold the crust into them. Then fill with the curd, top with fresh blueberries - delicious!

baked blind

with the curd!

Monsters and Boston Cream

Well it happened again. I was enticed into baking by another beautiful blog. This time it was pastry studio. I want a pastry studio, been thinking about taking real pastry classes so I can work in a proper kitchen again.

A new experiment for me, I followed the directions to a T, well almost. I didn't have cake flour (I know terrible, I've been baking enough to justify it). I also made my own buttermilk. I didn't zest the entire orange, probably about 2 teaspoons or so. I used regular cupcake pan and a loaf pan (will explain later why). And finally, I didn't use all the corn syrup, I used half a tablespoon maybe next time I'll use less.

always good to start with a little wine

For the recipe check out this website :pastry studio:
My vanilla filling was tasty but a bit lumpy, I don't know why. Maybe I heated the milk too much? Maybe the eggs were supposed to be at room temperature for that part too?

it was a bit messy

 When I cut out the middle of the cupcakes for the filling, I had lots of cake bits as left overs. I took my kerr jars and made a couple special boston cream parfaits for my roommies.

leftover cake, cream and chocolate in a kerr jar!

Alright I'm finally getting to the monster part. My friend, Marcos, designs fun creatures. It was his birthday so I decided to replicate one of his creatures in a mini-cake.

cake creature

I used the cake that I baked in the loaf pan, and cut it into smaller pieces. Then I used cookie decorating white and red frosting and made the mouths. I rolled out orange starbursts and cut them for the tummy piece. The gren hair is made from laughy-taffy, also nuked for 10 seconds and rolled out with a rolling pin. Then cut into the design. The eyes are just dots of icing. Do you see my inspiriation?

more creatures: http://www.marcosrc.com/

Mon Petit Amour

I actually made these a while back but it was such a long process, I didn't want to blog about it. I don't think I'll ever do these again. Though, I did get some rave reviews, so I may be tempted later on when I forget how long of a process it was. I got the idea from this beautiful blog, her pictures are too enticing. Oh and the blog is called, Use Real Butter, so you can imagine it's good. But, I had to change the recipe, as always, (sigh) to fit my reality (what I actually have in my kitchen) and my hopes and dreams (the ideas I come up with)....

The recipe was written for 8500 ft and was written for, in my opinion, real bakers who measure everything. Example: 3.25 oz of eggs. I don't weigh my eggs - just say 1,2, or 3 eggs please!

So I got out my trusty french pastry book, The Roux Brothers on Patisserie. I used their recipe, "Plain Genoese Sponge Cake" for the cake part. You can use any sponge cake recipe out there, I'm sure.

You make the cake in a large 11x17 cake pan. It will be very thin but that's great for the Petit Fours. Half the cake will be the bottom layer and the other half will be cut off and placed on top. In between you'll have a lime meringue buttercream and raspberry puree. You will also dress the cake with lime syrup. I thought about skipping this step, but I think it may be the secret to success in this recipe. The cake was very moist after 2 days in the fridge, I think due in part because of the lime syrup.

Lime Meringue Buttercream
4-5 egg whites (I actually messed this up and used 4 full eggs - the recipe calls for 4 oz of eggs whites)
1 cup of sugar
2 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 tbsp lime zest
2 tbsp lime juice
Combine egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl. Whisk constantly over a double boiler until 140F is reached. Place on mixer with whisk and whip until stiff. Turn down whip speed to 3rd and whip until cool to the touch (this takes a while – should be cooler than your hand). Change to a normal type beater and gradually add soft butter by tablespoon pieces. Once desired consistency has been reached, add lime juice and zest.

Raspberry Puree
approx 2 cups of frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons of powdered sugar (optional)

Run frozen raspberries under hot water, let them thaw. Blend them in a cuisinart. Since they are frozen, they may be a bit tart, add some powdered sugar to taste.

Lime Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2/3 cup lime juice
Lime zest - if you have any lime zest left over from the buttercream add it to the syrup too.

Heat water and sugar in a pot until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil and turn off heat. Let cool. Mix in lime juice and zest.

Note: I only used 3 limes in this recipe. 2 for juice but 3 for the zest.


Poured Fondant Icing
2.25 cups of powdered sugar
1/4 cup water
1/8 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp almond extract
drop of food coloring (optional)
Combine all in double boiler except coloring. Heat until all the sugar has melted. Remove from heat and stir in food coloring.

Assemble the Petit Fours

Once the cake has cooled, cut the cake in half, so that you have 2 pieces that are approximately 8.5x11. Brush the lime syrup on the top of the bottom layer. Add all the Raspberry Puree on top of it. Then add the Lime Meringue Buttercream. I think that I messed up when I made this recipe and I used the whole egg and not the egg whites. The lime buttercream didn't stiffen like it should have. So when I put the top layer of cake on it, lots of the cream squeezed out. If this happens to you, wrap it in parchment paper and stick it in the freezer. Once frozen, you can cut the cake in squares without all the filling running out.

Note: for the top layer of cake I put the bottom face up so I ended brushing both sides of the cake with lime syrup. It was tasty, I recommend this.

When cutting the squares, make sure they are at least an inch and a half big. I tried to go smaller but they didn't look as good as they wanted to fall apart. You need a good solid base. Once assembled, you can pour the fondant over top. This was a major pain! I didn't make enough fondant (note: you may want to double the recipe) and it was a mess. I instead served most of them with just a raspberry on top (glued on with the fondant icing). I think it tasted better too, the fondant is too sugary. Good Luck!

Angela's Test Kitchen - Asparagus Tarts

You might be saying, What asparagus tarts?!? But this isn't a sweet recipe, it's a savory one. My first savory recipe on the blog! A quick and easy appetizer or side dish (also vegan!)

I took the idea from a few recipes. One was from a vegan blog called Vegan Yum Yum. I was trying to come up with yummy ideas for a volunteer catering gig that I'm doing for work. The group I'm cooking for is mostly vegetarians with a few vegans. Also got this idea from a white bean dip that I used to make. I lost that recipe but it was similar to this one. Since I couldn't decide what recipe to do, I modified both recipes and put half and half on the puff pastry.

garlic on the left, pesto on the right

Pesto White Bean filling
Half a can of cannelloni beans
1 big teaspoon of pesto
a small handful of almonds
a pinch of salt
tablespoon-ish of water

Combine in a cuisnart!

Garlic White Bean filling (can also be a dip!)
Half a can of cannelloni beans
2 cloves of garlic
a pinch of salt
a splash of lemon juice
tablespoon-ish of olive oil

Combine in a cuisnart! In the future, I'd like to try adding some oregano or thyme or cumin or cayenne pepper or a mix of those! But since this was a test kitchen, I wanted to taste the garlic verses the pesto.

Roll out the puff pastry shell, lay on a lightly greased pan. I use Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets, they taste good and they're vegan. (don't believe that they are vegan? PETA says so, so it must be true) Since I made both the spreads, I spread one white bean mix on half of the puff pastry, and the other on the other half. Lay the asparagus on top. Brush olive oil on the asparagus. I only had 4 stalks of asparagus in the fridge, but ideally you'd put more veggies on it! Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown on the edges.

Now who's the winner?!

The pesto side was the most flavorful of course. It wasn't as liquidity so the puff pastry was done better on the bottom, was flaky and nice. The downside it was more dry and pasty than the garlic side. I would say that next time adding olive oil to the pesto recipe, would help. The garlic side was good, but maybe I shouldn't add the lemon juice and water so the bottom cooks better. I will also try it next time with some herbs and spices. Try it on your own and let me know what the secret ingredient should be!