Pumpkin Pie 11.23.11

I've only ever made Libby's pumpkin pie from the recipe off the can. But inspired by a homemade pumpkin pie I had recently (not at 1369), I knew that pumpkin pie could be much more flavorful than I knew.

I made pumpkin pie as well as a pie crust.  Here's the recipe for the pie crust, adapted from Martha Stewart Pate Brisee recipe

6.25 oz AP flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t sugar
1 stick butter
6-8 T cold water (I used 6)

I cut the butter into the dries, then added the cold water slowly until the dough felt hydrated and not crumbly anymore.  Too impatient to wait an hour for the dough to chill, I placed it in the freezer for about 30 minutes instead.  The dough rolled out okay, but I need practice rolling out circles of dough.  The ridge of dough for the edge of the crust did not turn out as high as I'd like.  The dough was a good thickness, so I'm not sure why I felt I didn't have enough.

For the pie filling, I adapted a recipe from food network.  Not having evaporated milk on hand, I simmered some 2% for about 20 minutes, reducing 2 cups to about 1 1/2 cups milk.  I also used cornstarch, to make the custard a bit thicker.
3/4 c light brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t cloves
2 eggs
15 oz pumpkin puree
12 oz evaporated milk
1 T cornstarch dissolved in 1 T cold milk.

I mixed the dry ingredients.  Then added eggs.  Then puree.  Then the milk. Then the cornstarch. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then 325 for 45 minutes or until done.

Here's the pie just before baking.

The finished pie.

Unfortunately the pie wasn't very good.  It was kinda bland and the texture was too mushy perhaps due to the home-made evaporated milk.  The crust wasn't anything great either.  I'll still be looking for a good pumpkin pie recipe.

Thanksgiving at CFB 11.23.11

Harvest Plum Rustic Tart

The sweetness of the fruit was perfect this time.

Grandma B's Pull Apart Sweet Rolls

Parker House Rolls

They are like a soft, milk bread.

Ice Cream Sampler 11.21.11

From the top, clockwise:  Squash ice cream, salted caramel ice cream, roasted apple sorbet, and beer ice cream

The squash was okay.  I don't remember what squash tastes like.  It's been a while.  The salted caramel was very good, but very strong and sweet.  The roasted apple sorbet is my favorite.  So bright and refreshing.  The beer ice cream was exactly what you'd think it would taste like.  Too bad I'm not a huge beer fan.

The Oak Room 11.20.11

The Oak Room, 138 St James Avenue, Boston, MA

Boston Creme Pie

A moist sponge cake which blended beautifully with the cream filling.  Chocolate ganache and white chocolate garnish.  The ganache was a little too rich for me.  But it was my favorite version of Boston Creme Pie I've had anywhere in Boston.

Dark Chocolate Tart, vanilla anglais, espresso mousse, mango something that was terrible.  I also asked for an additional scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Also very good, but I liked the ice cream, and espresso mousse better than the tart.

1396 Coffeehouse 11.16.11

1396 Coffeehouse, 757 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA

I really like this coffeehouse for some reason. It has the best atmosphere and great tea.  The pumpkin pie was nothing special.

Edible Arrangements 11.16.11

A great gift when your coworker has knee surgery.

Turkey Turkey! 11.14.11

More decorative breads from Clear Flour Bakery.

It's turkey time!

Birthday Sin 11.14.11

Hi-Rise Bread Company, 208 Concord Ave, Cambridge, MA

I got the HiRiser, which was good, but a little heavy.  For dessert it was the nutella sandwhich made with brioche. Definitely a treat.

Sin Sandwhich

Birthday Cupcakes! 11.13.11

We made strawberry shortcake cupcakes.  The cake recipe is the white layer cake from baking illustrated.  My #19 portion scoop was the perfect amount for each standard muffin cup.  I baked the cupcakes for about 18 minutes (a little less than recommended in the recipe for the 9 inch cakes).

After the cakes were cooled, we filled them with strawberry puree.  The puree was made using chopped strawberries mashed with a potato masher and sprinkled with granulated sugar.  Let the mixture sit overnight in the fridge.  Strain this mixture and the pulpy part was the filling for the cupcakes.  The sweetened juice was reserved for the whipped cream.

I whipped the heavy cream and added some superfine sugar (only because I ran out of granulated sugar) . Then I folded in the strawberry puree juice when the whipped cream was almost done.  We piped the whipped cream onto the cupcakes.

The cupcakes were topped with a sliced strawberry glazed with some simple syrup.

I love making cupcakes with a surprise in the center. I like that some people commented that they weren't too sweet.  The last time I heard that comment was when I made a similar cupcake for my professors a few years ago.  I had made a white cupcake (from a box) with sweetened whipped cream, topped with blueberries and strawberry puree.

Crema Cafe 11.13.11

Crema Cafe, 27 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA

Spinach and Feta Croissant with pine nuts.  Nothing special, but it's exactly what I expected it would taste like.  I like that you can see the pine nuts inside the croissant.

Ice Cream at work! 11.8.11

I am so lucky to work with an ice cream expert.  The best thing is that my coworker will bring in samples of his latest ice cream creations for all of us to taste.  The last three flavors were

Roasted Apple sorbet - so delicious!  It has a very interesting texture.  Kinda gritty at the end like apple cider.

Vanilla Bean - delicious and extra creamy.  There aren't too many beans in this picture, but I think it's just the angle.

Coffee - The best coffee ice cream I've ever had.  Not that it's my go-to flavor or anything.  Made with ground coffee beans, the flavor is hearty, but not too strong.  You can see the specks of coffee bean.  They have a texture like vanilla bean specks.

Amelia's Trattoria 11.1.11

Amelia's Trattoria, 111 Harvard Street, Cambridge, MA.

It's an italian restaurant outside of the North End, but it's the most charming restaurant.  From the outside you don't even think you'd stumble on a restaurant.  But then you see it, and when you get inside you feel like you're in a North End ristorante.

Tiramisu for dessert.  It had that delicious melt-in-your-mouth quality.  The only thing I didn't like was that the top half was all the cream and the bottom half was all the cake.  I much prefer cake and cream layers throughout.  I also thought the flavors could have been stronger in general.  More alcoholic and coffee flavor.  The fudgy topping was okay, but very sweet compared to the rest of the dessert.  Presentation was great though, don't you think?

Legal Sea Foods 10.29.11

Legal Sea Foods, 26 Park Plaza, Boston

I have no problem with chain restaurants.  Especially if it means I get to eat a chicken lobster.  But let's focus on dessert.  LSF's version of Boston Cream Pie didn't impress me.  I wanted cake and cream layers, but it was mostly a single layer of a custardy/creamy filling.  I also didn't think the fish on the plate went with the dessert, but that's just picky!

But LSF redeems themselves with the next dessert special...Cinnamon ice cream! We are all doubtful at first, but this ice cream was so incredible.  I was even scared to be overwhelmed by cinnamon so I ordered a scoop of vanilla with the two scoops of cinnamon.  But it was so delectable.  Way to go Legal!  But of course I have to find some criticism.  Isn't there a pastry chef in the back responsible for putting some kind of garnish on this dish?  How about a cinnamon stick, some cinnamon powder.  I'd even settle for a mint sprig.

Last but not least is special order Creme de Menthe parfait.  Unfortunately it had to be described to the waitress...a couple of times.  As a huge mint fan, I'm glad their attempt wasn't a complete fail.  Although the ice cream was pretty melted by the time it arrived at our table.

Apparently the ice cream people got the memo about not using plates with fish designs on them.

DoubleTree by Hilton 10.28.11

DoubleTree Boston, 821 Washington Street, Boston

Who knew there was a DoubleTree downtown.  It is a charming 6 story hotel with the Wisteria restaurant and bar at the hotel.  There is also a Starbucks right off the lobby.  This hotel is located between Chinatown and the Theatre district on Washington Street.

The best thing about being at the hotel during Halloween is that there was a pumpkin contest.  My favorite was the cookie monster pumpkin.

They also give you warm chocolate chip cookies when you check in, or when you tell them you just graduated from Le Cordon Bleu. They keep them warm under the desk somehow, but they weren't too dried out.

Quincy's Place 10.28.11

Quincy's Place, 254 Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston

I love this place.  I love that it is underground.  I love all the candy.  I love the Richardson's ice cream. I love that you walk in and it is a colorful candy wonderland.

I don't eat so much sweets anymore (well, except for icecream) but it's so charming to see pop rocks and warheads on display.

Emperor Garden Restaurant 10.27.11

Emperor Garden Restaurant, 690 Washington St, Boston

Beef and broccoli was very good, as well as the lo mein and egg drop soup.  Moo shu pork was a little to sweet and heavy for me.

These cookies were great for a sweet after dinner snack.  I ate them all!  They were short and crumbly.  I'm not sure what is in them and I forgot to ask what they were.

Bread Pumpkins 10.24.11

Here is a french bread pumpkin made at Clear Flour Bread in Brookline, MA.

A little spooky, I'd say! (Spooky in a good way.  It is halloween afterall.)

Star Wars Birthday! 10.19.11

The big reveal occurred at the Adams Mill Restaurant, 165 Adams Street, Manchester, CT

Here it comes!  It's Yoda!  First is cake and rice krispies covered in buttercream.  I had wanted the head to be entirely made of cake layers, but my cake layers didn't rise as much as I wanted, so the cake only comes up to the eyebrows and the dome of the head is sculpted from rice krispies.  The cake layers have buttercream and raspberry filling.  The ears are entirely rice krispies with wooden skewers holding them to the head.   Actually, the ears were the biggest problem, and I had to place metal clips to keep them together.  Next time, I'll make them the day before so they have time to dry out before attaching them to the head.

Next comes the fondant.  I still had lumps in the fondant, so next time I'll use Domino confectionary sugar or get a better tamis.  The fondant was made the day before and I used green and brown food gel to get the color.  The eyes are made of uncolored, reserved fondant.  The brown iris and black pupil are painted on using color gel mixed with Svedka.  I also used the brown 'paint' to color the highlights on the face (eyebrows, nose, dome of the head), as well as the inside of the ears.

A cross section shows the cake and rice krispie center.  The right ear really started to sag at this point.  But for a cake that was in a bouncy car for almost 2 hours, it's not too bad.  

A side of Star Wars cookies.
Next I used the sugar cookie recipe from Baking Illustrated.  I used the superfine sugar which gave excellent texture to these cookies.  I made cookie cutters out of an aluminum pan.  I also used the glaze recipe (with cream cheese) and added cocoa powder to the chocolate glaze and food coloring to both.  I used the plain white icing to pipe on the details.

Here are the cookies before they are decorated.

Here are the finished cookies!

And throw in some linzer cookies while we've got the dough rolled out and the cookie cutters out.

Practice Yoda Cake 9.8.11

I'm practicing a sculpted birthday cake.  It's going to look like Yoda's head, inspired by the Yoda Head Cake here, http://www.instructables.com/id/Yoda-Head-Cake/.  Unfortunately, my cake will not be as good looking as the model since it is based on acute sculpting and painting abilities which I do not have.  My strengths lie more in geometric patterns and architectural designs, not organic ones.  Nevertheless, I've never done a sculpted cake before, so there's no time like the present.

First, I made three cakes (two 9 inch rounds and one 8 inch, since those are the pan sizes I have) from two white cake mixes.  I filled the 9 inch pans with 1 lb 4 oz of batter and the 8 inch pan with 1 lb 14 oz, which I believe might have been overfull for each, not because they would rise over the top of the pans, but because they need to be baked so long they might dry out.

I made a buttercream, mostly without measuring ingredients, just so I'll be able to crumb coat the practice cake and the fondant will stick to the cake.  I used (approximately) 1 stick of butter, 1/8 c shortening, 2 c confectionary sugar, 1 tsp lemon extract , and 1 T milk (as needed).  The icing is very sweet and has that raw taste of confectionary sugar.

Most importantly, I made the fondant.  I followed the Wilton marshmallow fondant recipe. I used 10.5 oz marshmallows in the microwave for 1 minute, 12 oz confectionary sugar, 1 T water (as needed) and 1/4 cup shortening (as needed).  I also added green and brown food coloring to get a nice green for Yoda.  I wrapped the fondant in plastic wrap and will let it sit overnight.  I will check the consistency tomorrow.

Here we go!  Starting with the stacked cake with buttercream sticking the layers together.

Next is the hand-carved cake.  It kinda looks like a duck!

Buttercream coating.

...and fondant covered.

Unfortunately, it's not the end result I was looking for.  I'm going to look up some sketches and make a pattern for the sculpting.