Club Baked: Mississippi Mud Pie (A) or, How to Salvage a Mess and Improvise

I love chocolate. So, despite the fact that my spring form pan was currently at a friends (because I had recently taken over a gluten free, dairy free cheesecake), I definitely wanted to make this cake. I thought about the possible alternatives: I had two 8" cake pans, one 9" cake pan, a deep pie pan or I could use a square or rectangular baking dish. I was leaning towards the baking dish, then the pie pan, then my husband intervened and said to just use the 9" cake pan.

I was also out of parchment. I figured I could deal with some white dust on the outside of the cake, so I buttered and floured the cake pan instead.

The freezer is full, so instead of freezing the pie crust, I just left it in the fridge for some time while I set out other ingredients to come to room temperature until I thought it felt pretty solid.

I then proceeded to make the filling. It came together easily and without issue. It looked amazing, sort of like a very light, less sweet version of French silk pie. I can get behind anything that even moderately resembles French silk.

The first problem came when I poured the batter into the cake pan. It was bound to overflow, so I fit as much in as I could without actually overflowing and hoped for the best. Once in the oven, the batter started to rise. It then started to spurt like a volcano from one of the sides. Once it started to firm up, it stopped and rose almost beautifully. Once removed from the oven, it fell (as it was supposed to) to almost fit back in the pan. But I knew that there was no chance that pudding was ever going to sit on top of this thing in any way, shape or form resembling the cookbook's photo.

While the cake cooled, I made the pudding (with goat's milk - the only substitute I made in the recipe). I learned my lesson with the Boston Cream Pie Cake, so once it started to thicken, even though with my continuous whisking I hadn't actually seen any bubbles, I pulled it off the heat and poured it into the awaiting bowl where I added the finishing touches. It really is a tasty pudding - very smooth, rich, but not too sweet.

Because I had no way to assemble and finish this cake in the way it was intended, I used the 3 hour chill time to figure out what to do. Should I build a fort around the cake to keep the pudding until it firms? Should I try and pour what I can into the well made by the sunken cake? I ended up settling on the best, and far by easiest, solution: a trifle.

This way no cake would be wasted, and it wouldn't matter if it was a bit sloppy, especially since I don't actually have a trifle dish. The only drawback being that this would be one boring, all brown trifle. I hoped the taste would make up for it, and it did.

It's a light and fluffy cake layered with rich, almost chocolate mousse type pudding in between homemade whipped cream. I took the few remaining sandwich cookies and crushed them up to use as a topping. It's really very good, not too sweet, but very rich.

I feel pretty good about myself and this cake and the progress I've made at baking. When I started baking along with this group, I was adamant about following recipes, I didn't trust my instincts, and never would I consider thinking out of the box. Even cutting a recipe in half gave me stress. I know had this little hiccup happened to me a few months ago, I would not have handled it as well. Now, as I have been doing with savory recipes for years, I'm able to go with the flow. By no means do I feel confident to go willy-nilly baking without a recipe just yet, but at least I have gotten past the point of being overwhelmed and upset when things don't turn out perfect.

Check out the other baker's outcomes here, and then head on over to Alexis' blog for the recipe! Nice pick, Alexis.

Orange you glad...

The hubs and I recently went to San Diego, California. Can you believe it was my first trip ever to California? It was a fun time, with a stop at the ocean, avocado pickin', and relaxing.

This is also the technique we use for changing our air filters.

While were we there, we picked some oranges and citrus fruits of all kinds, and brought home a bounty! Now that my kitchen is full of citrus, I am slowly but surely finding some tasty recipes involving the tart, sweet little fruits. In addition to just eating them, of course, because I can assure you that you haven't really lived until you eat a perfectly ripe orange just off the tree (and proceeded to get juice all over your fingers!). I also tasted my very first kumquat. They are as fun to eat as they are to say. I think I may have forever ruined my taste for store bought oranges...

For the first recipe, I wanted to use up the blood oranges*. We only had a few, but they were beyond ripe, so I wanted to use them quickly before they went the way of the compost. A quick browse of the internets and I found a recipe for a Flaky Blood Orange Tart from Food and Wine. You know I love anything in a flaky crust, and the hubs likes anything resembling a cobbler, so this seemed like a great use for the blood oranges. Plus, it wasn't fancy or complicated so I could easily assemble it and get this - stash it in the freezer - to be made later. Of course, it didn't really last that long (really only the minimum 4 hours...) but it's nice to find a recipe that you can make ahead and whip up quickly when needed. A half recipe made about four to six servings.

While not fancy, this dessert is pretty in it's own right, with the vibrant colors of the oranges shining through like a little stained glass window. It smells amazing, but most importantly, tastes great. It does have a cobbler like flavor with the buttery crust, tart oranges and the addictive sweetness of liquid crack salted caramel syrup. Definitely make the syrup.

I tried to get photos of this before we ate it, but I wasn't so lucky, which is why I've taken strategically partial tart pics. That other half of the plate...it's empty. And then when I wasn't looking the hubs snacked on even more! At least I know he liked it.

Since we now have so much citrus, I'm sure I will be posting more recipes shortly. Leave a note in the comments if you have any favorite citrus recipes that I should try!

*This was also my very first blood orange!

Club Baked: Speculaas

I must be the only person on the planet that hasn't heard of these little cookies, similar to the Biscoff cookies handed out on the airlines. So, I really didn't know what to expect, other than a very spicy cookie...that I could gather from the ingredients - cloves, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon in quantity.

What I didn't know was that they would be terrible -

- terribly easy, that is.

I almost didn't think that after a quick pulse in the food processor and a minute of hand mixing that my batter* was done. After a pop in the fridge, a roll with the rolling pin and a quick (15 minutes!) bake in the oven, the cookies were out, smelling delicious and ready to eat.


And, in addition to the ease of preparation (and ease of cleanup - I think I used two dishes!), they are quite good. These cookies are dry and crispy. I normally am not fond of dry cookies, preferring them ooey and gooey and with chocolate chips. But these weren't dry in a bad way, more like a perfect compliment to a cup of coffee or tea, or in my case, a chai latte. (I will say that I did love them right out of the oven, still warm and a bit soft)

I do think that their spicy flavor makes them the perfect fall cookie, or holiday cookie for that matter. I know I will enjoy the break this cookie provides next year during the stressful, over the top holidays. It's so simple, but delicious. Can't ask for much more...

Club Baked ended up co-hosting this recipe with Baked Sunday Mornings, a group that also is baking it's way through these delicious desserts, so you'll find the recipe over there this week. To see all the bakers links, check out the Club Baked site.

*I ended up using lemon zest in place of the orange zest since I had no oranges on hand. I found it hard to taste with all the spice, so I'm not going to say if it affected the flavor, although I can see how orange would be the preferred compliment to those spices.

**pictures coming soon...

Club Baked: Mississippi Mud Pie (A)

aka Coffee Ice Cream Tart

When asked what I would like to host for Club: Baked, I sat down with the hubs and the Baked Explorations cookbook and discussed the possibilities. I was asked to pick something from the pies and tarts section, which for me was just perfect. I prefer pies, with their ease of preparation, their forgiving nature, and of course, the lack of scientific, precise measuring that make so many cake recipes downright frustrating for me. And this recipe had no flour which, for someone who has a flour bomb go off regularly while baking, also includes less clean up. Right around my hosting time, we were having a pretty over the top dinner, so I wanted something just a little special. With some hemming and hawing (debating between this and the Whiskey Pear Tart, apparently we like booze in our desserts), we finally settled on the Mississippi Mud Pie (A).

Of course, after just discussing the ease of preparation of most pies, I landed with the one that has so many steps. Luckily, each step is fairly easy, a simple stirring of ingredients and a pour into the pie shell, so what looked initially like a daunting recipe turned out to be pretty easy and straight forward. Although, all the stopping and starting in between steps dragged it into a two day process for me.

I started with the making of the ice cream. The Baked guys have a recipe for Coffee Ice Cream in the cookbook, but since I didn't have any instant espresso powder, or Kahlua, I ended up adapting my almond milk ice cream recipe. I simply added just a pinch over 1 1/2 cups of whole coffee beans to the milk base after the first simmer, and continued to heat on low for about an hour, maybe two. Until it tasted like a strong latte. After scooping out the beans and discarding, I added another 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup cream to compensate for the of the liquid that evaporate or got tossed with the beans, stirred and voila! Coffee Ice Cream. 

After making the ice cream, I set about making the crust. After scooping mounds of icing from the center of each sandwich cookie, I was able to use the wafers to make the crust. (Was anyone able to find just the wafer part? Please tell me where you get such a thing!)\

The bourbon fudge...let me pause a moment here.  Bourbon AND Fudge. These are pretty much two of my favorite things and together and, well, let's just say that I had no dirty dishes.

Cookie Crust, check.

Bourbon Fudge, check.

Toasted Pecans and Coffee Ice Cream, check and check.

More bourbon fudge, check, check, and check.

A little freezer action and some sparkly candles, and this thing was ready for it's debut.

This pie was incredibly rich. One of those desserts where just a little sliver will fulfill your sugar/chocolate/ice cream craving. For someone who eats a Dove dark chocolate to satisfy a sugar craving, this was super sweet.  I loved the coffee ice cream. For me, that was the best part. Next time, I would add more pecans maybe even mixing them into the ice cream. They offered a texture change with their crunch and cut down on the crazy sweetness of the rest of the ingredients. I would also skip the chocolate drizzle on top simply because it was such a rich pie, I didn't feel it really needed it. Okay, probably a light chocolate drizzle for, as my husband says, "flair." (Love that guy!)

Also, grease the pan! I guess I missed this step. But I had a h*ll of a time getting out the first slice. The second was a little better, but I think a light greasing would have solved the whole mess.

I think the best thing about learning to make this pie is the sheer volume of possibilities it opened up, and to me, that's the mark of a good recipe. One that introduces you to something that you can build on. Tweaking the ice cream and fudge flavors and even the toppings and you have an almost limitless amount of ice cream pie possibilities. Graham cracker crust, caramel in place of the fudge with a vanilla ice cream topped with pecans would be a nice fall treat. Maybe served with some warmed spiced apples. Kind of a Kriss Krossed apple pie a la mode. For Christmas, peppermint chocolate fudge with candy cane ice cream. Plain fudge and caramel ice cream topped with nuts for a toffee flavored ice cream pie...

Thanks everyone for baking along! Next up: Speculaas by Fiona: Ms Fifikins

Mississippi Mud Pie (A)
Yield: One 9" Pie

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cookie Crust
30 chocolate wafer cookies, about 6 oz
1 tbsp granulated sugar
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted


For the Filling
4 oz good quality dark chocolate (60-72%)
1/4 c plus 1 tbsp heavy cream
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1 c confections' sugar, sifted
1 tbsp Kentucky bourbon
1 pint good quality coffee ice cream
1/2 c toasted pecans, coarsely chopped


For the Bourbon Fudge Topping
2 tbsp heavy cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp light corn syrup
3 oz good quality chocolate (60-72%)
1 tsp Kentucky bourbon


Make the Chocolate Cookie Crust
In a food processor, pulverize the wafer cookies into a very fine crumb. You should have about 1 1/2 cups. Place the crumbs into a bowl, add the sugar and stir until combined. 


Pour the melted butter over the crumbs and mix well. Transfer the crumb mixture to a 9-inch pie plate and press it into the bottom and up the sides. Use the back of a large spoon to get an even crust. Set the crust aside in the refrigerator. 


Make the Filling
Place the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. In a medium saucepan, bring the cream, butter and corn syrup to a simmer. Remove the mixture from the heat, pour it over the chocolate, and let sit for 1 minute. Then whisk the chocolate mixture until it is completely smooth. Whisk in the confectioners' sugar and bourbon.


Spread the fudge evenly over the bottom of the pie crust, cover it and refrigerate for 2 hours.


Soften the coffee ice cream by placing the container in the microwave for 10 seconds on high. Put it into a large bowl and use a rubber spatula to beat it until it is slightly malleable. Spread the ice cream over the chilled fudge filling, sprinkle it with pecans, gently pressing them into the ice cream, and freeze the pie for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the ice cream is firm.


Make the Bourbon Fudge Topping
In a small saucepan over low heat, heat the cream, butter and corn syrup together until the mixture beings to simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Whisk until the fudge is smooth - if you still have a few stray chocolate chunks, reheat the mixture over very low heat until they are completely melted. Stir in the bourbon. 


Beat the fudge topping until it reaches room temperature, and pour it over the ice cream and pecan layer in a zigzag pattern. Freeze the Mississippi Mud Pie until it is set, about 20 minutes. To serve the pie, cut it with a warmed sharp knife. 


The pie will keep in the freezer, tightly covered, for up to 4 days.

Club Baked: Caramel Apple Cake

This week, as part of Club Baked, we tackled the Caramel Apple Cake (hosted by Lulu the Baker). This is a three layer, spiced apple cake with a caramel butter cream frosting. The cake, and it's six sticks of butter, is otherwise known as "the cake that induced a heart attack". Fettuccine Alfredo has nothing on this cake.

Just pretend you didn't read that last bit as you enjoy your slice and then pawn off very small slices to unsuspecting friends and family.

It wasn't a very complicated cake to make, just a bit time consuming. I first had to hunt down a third 8" pan. Perhaps real bakers have three, but I was really thinking I was doing pretty good when I upgraded to two just a short time ago.

The morning of, although you could just as easily tackle this part the night prior, I made the caramel sauce. I was tempted to make cinnamon cajeta since I knew that recipe was foul proof, but I went ahead with the Baked caramel recipe and I am glad I did. It's much thinner than the cajeta, but I think mine turned out a bit too thin. The thinner consistency comes in handy when whipping the frosting, but as a topping, it's a mess. Once I got all the equipment, and restocked my butter, and had set aside the caramel, I was ready to begin the cake.

The apples and spices in the cake remind me of apple bread, a good thing since I looove apple bread. I used unsweetened store bought apple sauce, although if you are adventurous you could make your own. It's not hard to make applesauce at home, but this cake is quite involved as is, so I gave myself a bit of a reprieve on that one. It's not like I'm worried about the nutrition value...

Once I had the cakes out of the oven (which took a bit longer than the recipe indicated, about 50 minutes), I began to work on the frosting. I was truly nervous here since I had heard some other bakers had trouble, but mine came together without a hitch. I did heat the goat's milk, sugar and flour in a cast iron dutch oven, so the temperature was quite stable and slow to heat. Once it started to thicken, I poured it into my mixing bowl and whipped until cool and then, of course, added three sticks of a little butter and the caramel sauce. Seriously, I read the recipe several times just to be sure that was the correct amount of butter.

With the cakes cool, I assembled the cake into three layers, with lots of butter cream frosting in between. I also snuck in a bit more caramel, drizzling a thin layer on top of each cake layer. It quickly soaked into the cake after which I smothered it in frosting. With an added drizzle a moderate pour of caramel to the top, it was ready to serve.

I served the first slice to my hubs and I (we shared as I was still getting over the butter) and he told me that I wasn't eating fast enough to stop him from eating the whole thing (He doesn't know about the butter...). He even said that I was getting better at baking cakes (I'm a pie person) and that I had perfected frosting. Needless to say, this cake was a winner. It wasn't too sweet as I had feared it would be. It does have a very moist, dense consistency similar to an apple bread, with the light sweetness of the frosting. The frosting is like a sweet, buttery cloud. I thought the thickness of the frosting layers was obnoxious at first but, once I tasted them, it all made sense.

I would say that if I had been more adventurous and made homemade applesauce, leaving little chunks of apple in there so not to be quite as homogeneous as store bought, it would have been even better. Like off the charts good. The hubs wished it had a bit more caramel, but that was easily remedied with a drizzle from the jar left in the fridge.

All in all, as if you couldn't tell, this was a great fall cake. The spice, the apples, the caramel - pure fall. <3 Check out Lulu the Baker's blog for the recipe!

Club Baked: Sawdust Pie & Homemade White Chocolate

This week's recipe is hosted by Tessa of The Cookin' Chemist and she selected Sawdust Pie. I'll be honest, I was a bit hesitant to try this one. The name was not the most appetizing and there wasn't a photo in the book indicating what to expect. But since I was busy studying for my licensing exam and missed the last two Club Baked picks, I thought I should give this a try. And I'm so glad I did!

The pie itself was easy to assemble with some prep - making the pie crust and white chocolate. (Sidenote: these two steps took longer to make than the actual pie, which shows you just how easy and quick this pie goes together) Due to that pesky cow's milk allergy, I can't have regular white chocolate since it contains milk powder. I thought about omitting the white chocolate all together and just using dark, but I also really wanted to try to make the white chocolate as I noticed a few other Baked recipes used them as well. The homemade white chocolate was the only substitution that I had to make in the entire recipe and I think it helped make the pie less sweet overall.  

Recipe for white chocolate at end of post.

For the pie crust, I stuck with the basic recipe found in Baked: Explorations with one minor change. I substituted vanilla sugar for plain granulated. I keep vanilla sugar in my pantry and sneak it in to all kinds of baked goods and the pie crust seemed like the perfect place.

Once I had the pie crust assembled, the rest was easy peasy. A few pulses of the food processor on some graham crackers and pecans, a little shaving of white chocolate, a handful of dried, unsweetened coconut and some scoops of sugar and I was almost done! I'll admit I was concerned about the coconut flavor in this pie. I like fresh coconut, but the dried stuff I normally have a texture aversion to, but in this pie, it is barely noticeable with all the other strong flavors and doesn't stand out texturally with everything else.

I couldn't help sneaking in 2 ounces of  semi-sweet chocolate, though. I was so happy I added this when I tasted the pie. The bite of the semi-sweet chocolate really complimented the nutty sweetness of the pie. After adding the (6!) egg whites and filling the pie crust, it was time for the oven. (Don't worry about those 6 egg yolks, I feel some ice cream making in my near future...Come to think of it, a scoop of cold ice cream would go fabulously with a warm slice of this pie...)

This pie was easy to make and tasty to eat. Sort of a less sweet, less syrupy version of traditional pecan pie. I served this pie warm, with a big, fat dollop of homemade whipped cream to some of the hub's friends. After looking skeptically at something called "Sawdust Pie" and quizzing me on ingredients a few times, each took a slice and cleaned their plates. Success!

Thanks to Tessa for choosing this recipe that I never would have given a second thought without her prompting. It's a great fall pie and would be a great dessert offering for Thanksgiving. Check out her blog for the recipe. Also, check out other baker's links here.


White Chocolate 
adapted from this recipe


2 oz. food grade cocoa butter - They carried this at my Whole Foods, but you can purchase online as well)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp goat's milk powder
itty bitty pinch of salt

Melt the cocoa butter in the microwave in a microwave safe dish. I used a Pyrex container with a lip to pour so it is easier to fill the molds later. Start with 2 minutes and add 1 minute at a time until all the cocoa butter solids are liquefied.

Using a pot holder, remove the cocoa butter from the microwave and stir in the extract, sugar, milk powder and pinch of salt. Continue to stir until all of the ingredients are incorporated and melted into the cocoa butter.

Pour the mixture into mold. I used silicone cupcake molds that I had on hand. An ice cube tray would work, too if you don't have candy molds. You could buy a fancy candy mold if you want, but it's not necessary. Then simply place the molds into the fridge to harden and a few hours later, you have great tasting, smooth, homemade white chocolate. :)

Club Baked: Sunday Night Anniversary Cake

Yesterday was my one year wedding anniversary. Can you believe it? One whole year. It went by so quickly I can hardly believe it myself. A new job, quitting old jobs, being unemployed, moving across the country. It's been super busy and crazy, but equally as fun. We've been truly blessed this past year and I thought it would be nice to celebrate at home - with a nice dinner, some champagne, netflix, and this Sunday Night Cake from Baked: Explorations.

I know! You are supposed to eat your wedding cake on your one year anniversary, but I couldn't eat my wedding cake on my wedding day. Well, I could eat the "groom's cake" that my lovely aunt made for us, but not the tiered one, so there's no top tier for us to eat. And really, I don't know the reason or tradition behind eating the old cake, but for me, wasting freezer space on old cake for an entire year seems pretty silly, especially when you can make fresh, yummy cake for the occasion.

This Sunday Night Cake was noted to be pretty easy and quick to make - which is why it is called Sunday Night cake and not Friday Night cake. It was painless - even for me. I was surprised by how fluffy the batter was - I had to restrain myself from just liking it right out of the bowl. I did substitute strained sheep's yogurt for the sour cream as I've done in the past, but that was my only substitution in the batter. I baked mine for 40 minutes in our toaster oven although it came out a bit too toasty. Next time I'll be sure to check on it when it's coming up on 30 minutes.

I baked my cake in a round pan (8 or 9 inch-ish) since that's what I had. It occurred to me later that I probably could have used a glass baking dish that I did have, but oh well. I think that if I had made it in the square pan, or in a springform pan (which would have had taller edges, allowing the cake to rise higher?) that it might have grown a bit taller and been more airy. But we're all short in this house, so I guess the cake fits in. 

For the frosting, I used 62% Cocoa dark chocolate instead of the unsweetened the recipe suggests because that's what I had on hand. I don't know what the unsweetened version tasted like, but this was amazing. I did manage to frost the cake, but I for sure licked the bowl when I was done. It wasn't too sweet as cake frosting usually are and, like the donuts, the flavor of the frosting complimented the spice in the cake in the most delicious way possible.

I was pleased with the ease of preparation and flavor of this cake. It was a bit on the dense side for me, but still moist despite me baking it into obliteration. I was a bit hesitant while frosting the cake as it seemed like a crazy amount, but was glad I went all out. Because the cake is so dense, for me, the added frosting helped balance out the cake to frosting ratio, especially since there are no layers to get a bit more frosting in there.

We served this with a dinner of homemade calzones (as requested by the hubs), sauteed french beans and of course, a glass of champagne to celebrate our one year and toast many more to come.

To see how this turned out for the other bakers, check out this link. For the Sunday Night cake recipe, check out Julie's blog, Little Bit of Everything. Thanks, Julie for hosting!

Club Baked: New York Style Crumb Cake

I have never had NY style crumb cake, but seriously, how delicious. As it was baking, I was crossing my fingers that it would turn out because the smells coming from my oven were beyond good! Luckily, after waiting impatiently while it cooled, I took my first bite and it tasted even better than it smelled.

This crumb cake was a good first pick for Club: Baked as the steps were relatively easy and straight forward. I decided to make a full recipe in the recommended pan size (9" x 13") since some of the other bakers had problems when trying to halve the recipe. Being a newbie, I wanted to play it safe. And honestly, I have never had much of a problem finding people to eat desserts. Quite honestly, the hardest part was waiting the half hour prior to cutting as suggested by the authors.

The recipe itself also did not require many substitutions to accommodate my milk allergy. For this recipe, I did substitute strained sheep's milk yogurt for sour cream, but was able to use the rest of the ingredients as indicated.

The cake came together fairly quickly. I did take a break part way through to let the crumbles "rest" - a suggestion by the authors to produce "gargantuan" crumbles. During this time I also allowed the butter for the cake batter to soften and the yogurt to strain.

When substituting yogurt for sour cream in a recipe, place the yogurt in a metal strainer or cheese cloth suspended over a bowl. Allow it to drain to the desired consistency. For a sour cream substitute, I recommend a minimum of 30 minutes and a full hour if you can spare it. Also, always measure out an amount greater than what is needed so when it has drained, you end up with the amount required. For the 1 1/4 cup of sour cream required for this recipe, I started out with about 1 3/4 - 2 cups of yogurt.

Thanks to Karen of Karen's Cookies Cakes & More for hosting this week's recipe. To see what the other bakers did with this week's recipe, head on over here. I heard that someone made muffins - yum!