Bacon Dark Chocolate!

This happened. 

Why pay $4.00/bar when you can have so much more for so much less?! Fine, there's no baking per say involved in this but there is sugar and bacon so I think it deserves to go on the blog. Salty. Sweet. Bacon. Winner.

These bacon chocolate bars used the tempering technique described in this blog post. You can always skip the tempering and add in a touch of crisco (...ehhhh) or just melt the chocolate old-fashioned but it won't keep at room temperature. That is, unless you buy melting chocolates which already have crisco fat (...ehhh) in them. But if you're okay with keeping the bars in the fridge then skip the tempering!

Bacon Chocolate

Tools:
          You will need a thermometer of sorts for this candy making adventure
          You will need one rubber (not wood) spatula

Detailed explanation of tempering from this blog post.

10 oz of dark chocolate chips (you can use semi-sweet or milk if you so desire)
4-5 strips of bacon, cooked to crispy and broken into small pieces
1 teaspoon flaked sea salt

In a double boiler, heat 2/3 of your chocolate until it reaches 115F. Once at 115F add in your remaining chocolate, remove from heat and stir occasionally until the temperature has dropped to 80F.

Reheat over your double boiler for just a minute or two or until back up to 88-90F and remove from heat.

That's it! Tempered! Now you can make your bars and store them at room temperature.

Stir in 2/3 of your bacon into the chocolate and spread your chocolate onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper until about 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle on your remaining bacon and sea salt. Pop into the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Remove from freezer and cut into the size of your choice!

Enjoy!

Sam

Buttered Pecan Biscuits

It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon here and the perfect day for baking.

Perfect day for making biscuits (y'all). Especially some stuffed with toasted, buttered, salted pecans.

These were amazing drizzled with a bit o' honey as the biscuits were just the slightest bit sweet. We might make these into bacon sandwiches later. Can you imagine the flavor combination in your mouth?!

Or slathered in more butter with some salt (photo courtesy of the husband - pretty impressive huh?)

Buttered Pecan Biscuits
Adapted from joy the baker
Makes about 12 biscuits

For the buttered pecans

1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons butter
sprinkle of salt

Roast your pecan halves at 350F in an oven for 10 minutes. Then move the pecans to a saucepan and toss them in the butter and salt until your butter is melted. Set aside to cool while you prep your biscuits.

For the biscuits

3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup cold, unsalted butter cut into small cubes
1 large egg
3/4 cup cold milk + some for brushing (I used 2% milk, you can go up to buttermilk if you desire)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Some extra sugar for sprinkling on top

After your pecan halves are cooked, up your oven temperature to 400F.

In a large bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and brown sugar.

In another bowl, combine your egg, milk and vanilla.

FYI for these next steps, I recommend getting messy and using fingers! Using your fingers, pastry cutter, or fork, cut your butter into your dry mixture until it looks like corn meal with some pieces as big as small peas. Add in your wet mixture and mix until it just starts to come together. Fold in your buttered pecans until just incorporated. Try not to overmix/overknead otherwise you will end up with tough biscuits (yuck!)

Dump onto a floured board and flatten your dough to about 1 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter or a cup, cut out rounds of about 2 inches in diameter and plop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can place the biscuits relatively close together. If the edges touch, the biscuits easily pull apart.

Brush on some extra milk and sprinkle on some sugar.

Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Enjoy!
Sam

Salty Honey Pie

Why hello caramel colored flawless pie top sprinkled with beautiful fleur de sel! 

Well, I tried another recipe from that book I got a few weeks ago! Remember? The book that resulted in this pie?

This salty honey pie was actually the first pie I had heard of long long ago that first sparked my attention to the four and twenty pie shop. Salty Honey pie?! Who had ever heard of such a combination of flavors? Not I! I was immediately intrigued.

This pie tastes like a ... hmm how would I describe it...like ...it almost tastes like a mouth full of salted caramel latte. You know, the kind from Starbucks? But then, upon further tasting it is most definitely the flavor of honey...just all nutty and wonderful and the like. So wonderful and nutty! Side note - I did cut out a good bit of sugar out of this recipe and would recommend it as it was plenty sweet enough.

Shout-out to my best friend for the cheese platters on which this picture was taken!

Boy was I surprised to cut into the pie and see a beautiful custard colored filling underneath. It just made the pie that much more visually appealing.

The flavor in this pie is so unique and the fleur de sel saltiness is a wonderful, wonderful counterbalance to the sweetness of the honey. Upon eating a slice I actually ended up going back and sprinkling more salt onto it!

Salty Honey Pie
Adapted from: The Four&Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book

For the crust:

Any old butter crust will do. May I refer you to this blog post by my co-author Elyse for a wonderful recipe on butter and oil crusts...or you can buy a crust (judgement free zone here). My favorite is the Trader Joe's pie crust!

For the filling (this part is more fun anyway): 
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornmeal (for texture)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup honey
3 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Fleur de sel for garnish

Note about the salt: you don't have to use fleur de sel. Any flaked salt with do but plain old table salt will not. These salts have a higher moisture content allowing them to sit on top of baked goods without simply melting away into them and losing their prettiness. 

Preheat your oven to 375 F. 

In a bowl stir together your butter, sugar, cornmeal, salt and vanilla. Add in your honey and your eggs (once at a time). Once well incorporated, stir in your heavy cream and vinegar. Pour your honey mixture into your pie crust and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Your pie will be done when the middle is all puffy and your pie is golden brown. Allow the pie to cool for 2-3 hours thereby giving some carry over custard pie time. Sprinkle with a flaky salt and taste this baby. I mean...pie. 

Enjoy!
Sam

Baked Eggs

I don't know about you guys but I loooovvvee brunch. Maybe it's the whole mentality of "I'm eating two meals!" also known as "excuse to gorge"...maybe it's because brunch food is so yummy...or maybe because it's often associated with sleeping in. Either way, love it. 

This recipe was almost too simple to share...almost. 

This morning, I decided to treat us with some brunch at home. Although we already had banana pudding in the fridge (decided not to post those because my pictures were sub-par...sad), we opted for a savory baked dish. This may be to date the easiest baking recipe I've ever posted!



This "recipe" (more like concept) is so gloriously easy, versatile, and delicious. We're definitely going to doing it more often!

All gone!

Baked Eggs

1 cup pasta sauce (of your choice)
2-3 eggs
1/4 cup of grated cheese (of your choice)
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a small oven-safe saucepan, heat your pasta sauce until just starting to boil. Turn off heat and crack your eggs into the sauce. Simply sprinkle the remaining ingredients and throw into the oven for 5-7 minutes (depending on how runny you like your eggs).

Serve with toast!

Literally. That was all. You can spice this up in a million ways with different cheese, vegetables, and meats!

Also - you can adjust this to any size saucepan. Just make sure you have enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan and run with it.

Enjoy!
Sam

Black Bottom Lemon Pie (with Biscotti Pecan Crust)

Oh man. 

So has anyone heard of this bakeshop in Brooklyn that does amazing pies? The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pies?

I admittedly haven't made it out to Brooklyn yet, but it is definitely on my NYC checklist for next time. They do the most unique flavors! Re: Salty Honey, Lavender Blueberry, etc. All of these recipes are set amongst the backdrop of the most gorgeous pictures. So when I stumbled upon the cookbook this weekend and my mother saw the sparkle in my eyes...well let's just say I own this beautiful book now.

I had to try this recipe! The original recipe called for a traditional butter crust but I misread the crust and accidentally made a Biscotti Pecan Crust. I have to say, it was a great mistake.

This pie is made with fat, juicy Meyer lemons. They were so much fun to work with and so different than traditional lemons. They're sweeter and their skin is much thinner - making zesting and juicing a different experience. 

 

Not to mention, the mix of the lemon, the pecans, and the chocolate bottom was heavenly!

I can't wait to try more recipes from this book! In the meantime, lets eat some pie.

Black Bottom Lemon Pie 
Adapted from The Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book

For the Pecan Biscotti Crust
1/3 cup lady fingers crushed (about 8 cookies)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pecan halves
3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat your oven to 375F. In a food processor, pulse your lady fingers until it looks like fine crumbs. Add in your sugar, salt, and pecan halves and pulse until mixed. Add in your melted butter and pulse just until the mixtures starts to come together.

Press your delicious crumbs into a 9 inch pie pan, slowly working the crumbs up the side of the pan until an even layer of crumbs covers the pan. Don't worry, the layer may seem paper thin but once it bakes it puffs up a bit.

Pop your crust into the freezer for 10 minutes and then bake for 14 minutes. Once out of the oven (while still hot), use the bottom of a measuring cup to flatten out the crust/cover any imperfections that may have happened. Cool on a wire rack and then pop in the fridge to cool even further while you make your black bottom!

For the black-bottom ganache
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Heat your heavy cream over medium high heat until jusstt boiling. Turn off the heat and throw your chips in. Swirl your cream around just enough to cover your chocolate and then let sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, whisk the chocolate into the cream until it comes together into a silken chocolate concoction.

Spread this over the bottom of your cooled biscotti crust and half-way up the sides. Pop your pie-crust into the freezer to help the ganache set super fast while you work on the filling.

For the lemon filling
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (3-4 lemons)
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
zest of one Meyer lemon
zest of 1/4 orange
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat your oven to 325F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your eggs, yolk, sugar and salt until well incorporated. Whisk in your remaining ingredients (that was easy!). Note: our Meyer lemons were very fragile while we zested and juiced. It was totally fine, but just FYI.

Strain your filling through a large sieve into your now set ganache crust. Very gently plop it into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the sides are set. The middle will still be verrryy wobbly but no fear! Simply take out your pie and let it cool for 2-3 hours and the carry over cooking will take care of the rest.

Now slice, eat, and put the rest back in the fridge. That is, until you slice and eat again.

Enjoy!
Sam

Gingerbread Marina City

Also known as the corn cob buildings.

So two years ago, I was involved in the making of a geodesic dome gingerbread house.

...and from that, the non-traditional gingerbread house tradition was born.

I spent this holiday season with my husband's family which includes a family of architects, designers....and one molecular cellular biology graduate student. When we sat down to brainstorm what to make out of gingerbread this year, the graduate student suggested that we do Marina City in Chicago. For those of you unfamiliar....(feel free to google)

...annnndd....

The water is made of royal icing dyed blue!

That's Phil of http://philipdelosreyes.blogspot.com/! He did all the math and designing of Marina City, I was the cheap hired labor. For those of you interested, Phil is also a designer in real-life and does freelance work for real (or gingerbread) things.

Enjoy!
Sam

8:40 PM

Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake

I have to apologize for the quality of these images. I made the cake at night (not a preferable time to take pictures) but we had guests over that deemed immediate serving of the cake...hence poor lighting. However, I wanted to share it anyway because it was delectable. Plus it was served warm and with friends. Hard to go wrong there!

Oh yellow evening lighting, how I loathe thee. Anyway, we had some house guests staying with us earlier this month for residency interviews and a baked good that combined the tastes of chocolate and orange was requested. Then, this cake was brought up and a similar rendition was officially requested. As a result - here we are again...at chocolate orange bundt cake land. 

The cake was perfectly citrusy and mm mm moist. I threw on a ganache glaze to add an extra layer of sweetness as the cake itself is not that sweet. This cake was gone within a few days as we enjoyed it for numerous in-between-meal snacks (oops?). Oh also, the original recipe called for orange extract...which I didn't have...and instead of post-poning the cake, I replaced it with some orange juice. It worked out perfectly. 

Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake

Adapted from joythebaker

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups sour cream

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

zest of 1 large orange

4 tablespoons cocoa powder 

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350F. 

In one large bowl, mix together your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another, beat your butter and sugar together until nice and fluffy. Add in your eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Add in your vanilla and sour cream. Finally, add in your flour mixture slowly until everything is just combined and looks even (try not to over-mix!). 

Here comes the fun part. Divide your batter into two bowls. 

Bowl 1: add in your orange zest and orange juice and combine

Bowl 2: add in your cocoa powder and chocolate chips and combine

Now simply pour your orange batter into a buttered and floured Bundt pan and spread it evenly. Then, pour in your chocolate batter on top. You can spread the mixture evenly with the back of the spoon or do the old "slam it onto the counter until the top looks even" technique. I chose to make a lot of noise and slam it onto the counter a few times. 

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the cake springs back at you when you touch it. Let it cool slightly and then flip it upside down onto the serving platter of your choice. Now, while the cake is still warm...

Optional (but I really mean required) Chocolate Ganache

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

In a double boiler, combine the two ingredients until the chocolate is melted and looks like a vat of something Willy Wonka would be proud of. Remember if you don't have a double boiler (we don't) just put a metal mixing bowl over a small pot filled with water and use an oven mitt to keep the bowl in place while whisking. Someday I will have nice things, I promise. 

Finally, pour the ganache all over the entire cake. We served it warm and I think that was probably the way to go!

Enjoy!

Sam