Chocolate Key Lime Pie

This is the same recipe for the Chilled Key Lime pie I made the other day, except now it has a Chocolate Graham Cracker crust and shaved Semi-Sweet Chocolate on top. Now I know mixing all of these flavors together may seem like a bad idea, but the Chocolate goes very well with the vanilla and coconut topping, and the chocolate in the crust cuts some of the extreme bitterness of the key lime filling.

All in all, I'd say this is, so far, one of my most popular desserts to date. So, if you're in the mood to try a new twist on an old summer favorite, I definately recomend giving this pie a shot.

Strawberry Granitas with Fresh Lemon Cream

Who doesn't enjoy a nice cold treat in the middle of summer? These are the perfect thing to cool you down, if you just have enough patience to wait while they freeze, but trust me, these are definately worth the wait!

Ingredients:

1 1/3 Cups Water

2/3 Cup Sugar (For Granita)

4 Cups Fresh Strawberries (About 2 Containers)

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

1/3 Cup Whipping Cream

1 Teaspoon Finely Shredded Lemon Zest

2 Teaspoons Sugar (for Cream)

Combine water and 2/3 Cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is completely disolved. Set aside and let cool.

Puree the berries in a food processor until smooth (you may add up to 1/3 of the sugar syrup to help puree the strawberries easier). Strain with fine mesh over a bowl and discard the seeds. Stir this and the lemon juice into the syrup.

Pour this mixture into a 2 Quart square baking dish. Cover and freeze for 6 hours or until firm. Stir after 2 hours, and once an hour after. Before serving, beat mixture with a fork or until fluffy.  Top with Lemon Cream and Enjoy!

Lemon Cream:

Combine Whipping Cream, 2 Teaspoons sugar, and Lemon zest in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium or until soft peaks form.

Roasted Plum Purse

This was a purse to begin with, but the pastry dough expanded durring cooking.

Ingredients:

5 Ripe Red Plums, pitted and Sliced into quarters

1 1/2 cups Riesling or Dessert Wine

1 Egg White

2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract

1/2 of 17oz Frozen Puff Pastry Dough (1 Sheet), thawed

2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour

4 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar

4 Tablespoons Packed Dark Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons Butter cut into Pea-sized pieces

Preheat oven to 350F. In a 3 or 4 quart oven save baking dish, place plums cut side up in rows. Pour the wine and vanilla extract over the plums evenly. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar over the whole dish. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the edges of the plums begin to brown.

Grease a 2 quart oven safe baking dish and place thawed pastry dough with edges folding outward over the edge of the dish. In a small bowl stir the remaining 2 Tablespoons of granulated sugar, flour, butter, and 2 Tablespoons of the dark brown sugar together. After poking a few holes in the bottom of the pastry, sprinkle half of this mixture evenly.

When the plums are done cooking, gently spoon them out while straining the liquid away. (They will be VERY soft so you will need to be very careful that you don't turn them to a big mushy mess) While you are doing this, try to remove the plum peel (not all of it will come off, just remove what you can). After straining the plums, place them in rows inside the pastry dough. Top with the remaining dry mixture and 2Tablespoons of dark brown sugar. Gently fold cornes of the pastry over the filling and hold together with a toothpick (as you can see, I did not think this was something I needed to do... I was wrong).

Gently whisk your egg white and brush lightly over the dough. Bake on 400F for aproximately 20min or until the dough is a nice golden brown. Let cool completely before eating.

Enjoy!

Chilled Key Lime & Coconut Pie

Although the recipe I had didn't call for coconut or vanilla, I found the taste to be a bit bland.

Ingredients:

1 Graham Craker Crust

1 can (14oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 Teaspoon finely grated Key Lime peel

1/2 Cup Key Lime Juice

2 Cups Whipping Cream

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut

Fresh Lime Slices (for decoration)

For the filling, combine grated peel, condensed milk, and lime juice in a medium sized bowl and set aside. In a second medium bowl beat only one cup of whipping cream on medium until soft peaks form (tips will begin to curl). Fold gently into lime mixture. Pour into pie crust and cover. Freeze for 2 to 4 hours or until firm.

After the filling is firm remove from freezer. In a medium bowl beat remaining whipping cream and vanilla extract on medium until soft peaks form. Spoon onto the top of pie filling (do not mix).

To toast the coconut place in an even, flat layer on a greased baking sheet. Heat oven to 350F. Cook for aproximately 7 minutes or until the coconut is a golden color. Sprinkle on top of whipped topping. Garnish with fresh lime and enjoy!

Creamy Coconut Cake

This is for the 4 layer version... I tried to make the 2 layer and the cake turned out perfectly but the icing wasn't thick like it should be so I recommend baking everything and making the whole cake.

2 Eggs

1 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cups Sugar

1/2 Cup Milk

2 Tablespoons Butter

1 Teaspoons Vanilla

3/4 Cups Shredded Coconut


Allow eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 mins. Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease and lightly flour two 9in round cake pans (Wilton makes something called "Cake Release" that worked very well for me); set aside. In small bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In Large bowl beat eggs with an electric mixer on high speed about 4min or until thick and lemon colored. Gradually add sugar, beating on medium speed for 4 or 5min or until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture; beat on low to medium speed until just combined.

In small saucepan combine milk and butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Stir in vanilla. Add warm milk mixture to egg mixture; beat until combined. Pour batter into prepared pans, spreading evenly.

Bake 15 to 18min or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10min. Remove from pans, cool completely on racks.

Wash and dry pans. Repeat the process to make two more layers. Cover the first two layers to keep them moist.
To assemble, turn three cakes bottom sides up. Spread each layer with 3/4 cup Creamy Rich Frosting (recipe below) and sprinkle with 1/4 shredded coconut. Stack layers on serving plate. Place remaining cake layer, rounded side up, on top. Frost top and side of cake with remaining frosting. Garnish with more shredded coconut or fresh coconut curls.

Creamy Rich Frosting- 6 Cups

In a bowl combine one 16oz carton sour cream, 1 pint (2 Cups) whipping cream, 1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar, and 2 Teaspoons of vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until mixture is thickened and soft peaks form (tips curl).


Fresh Coconut Curls

Separate coconut meat from shell in large pieces. Thinly slice with a vegetable peeler. Arrange slices on baking sheet. Bake in the 350F oven for 2 to 3min or just until edges start to brown and coconut is dry; cool.

Baking Marathon!

Hello Dollies! Sorry for the lack of baking this last month, I have been very busy with my other jobs...  to make up for it, however, this upcoming weekend I am going to bake something new EVERY DAY for 5 days!

That's right, come back every day for something new to feast your eyes with, and don't worry, I will be including recipies too! Here's a look at a few upcoming choices:

Almond-Fig Thumbprint Cookies
Roasted Plum and Raspberry Tart
Strawberry Granita
Raspberry Limeade Cake
Whipped Key-Lime Pie

No Bake Day Today

Sadly, because of my hectic work schedule this week, I was unable to bake anything today. Hopefully in the next few days I will be able to find some time. I know I am going to be making Apple pies for the Fourth this weekend.

Strawberry Pastries

For these, I followed the same basic recipe for the Mini Apple Pies but I added Confectioner's Sugar and a Dark Chocolate Drizzle.

Mini Fruit Pies

To celebrate the first day of summer I decided to make a traditional summer dessert: Pie

You can use any fruit pie mix for this recipe (which is for apple) but I substituted it for peaches. Later I will also make strawberry and apple.

1 Package Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets (One package has 2 sheets)

1 Can (21oz) Apple Pie Filling

1 Egg

1 Teaspoon Water

All Purpose Flour

Brown Sugar to Taste (Optional)

Cinnamon to Taste (Optional)

Vanilla Ice Cream (Optional)

Preheat oven to 400 and grease or spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray (since this is a pastry I would recomend the butter flavor). Set aside.

Allow Pastry sheets to thaw to room temperature by laying out flat on a lightly floured, flat surface (aproximately 40 minutes).  Cut out (Four and a Half Inch) 4 1/2inch rounds and remove excess. Set excess aside. Fill each round of dough with 1 Tablespoon of pie filling*. Fold remaining dough over to make a half circle and pinch ends together with a fork.

*You may want to drain some of the extra syrup or gel from your pie filling before hand as this part can become a bit messy. If the dough becomes too saturated with the filling it will be hard to pinch the edges closed. If you'd like, you may add brown sugar or cinnamon to the pie filling ahead of time.

Set the filled half circles on your baking sheet.

With a little flour and a rolling pin, roll out remaining pastry dough and repeat the process until there is not enough dough left for another circle. Throw this little bit away.

In a small bowl wisk together the egg and water. Brush lightly on each half circle to make the pastry a dark golden brown. (I did not do this to my mini pies)

Bake for 15min. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before eating. Serve with Ice Cream and enjoy!

1st Birthday Cake

This is a cake I made today for my neice Ava who is turning 1 this weekend.

Because this is a family obsessed with Disney, and because Ava's grandmother (and blog follower) Heather asked me to do a Disney cake, I chose to do a baby pink Minnie Mouse cake.

Originally I wanted to put little Minnie Mouse shaped heads on the sides where the polka dots are, but luckily Ava's grandmother said it would look too busy with the addition. We will be writing a "Happy Birthday" note on the cake later, but in all honesty, I really like the simplicity of the cake. Less is more... even for children's bithday cakes.

Things I learned while baking this cake:

It is really hot outside! Now I understand the phrase, "If you don't like the heat, then get out of the kitchen." Also, because it was so hot today (a mere 97 Degrees), Cream Cheese icing was not a good idea. Yes it tastes great, and yes there is a nice contrast with the chocoate incing on top, but it does not hold its shape well in high temperatures. If you'll notice, even after two layers of the icing, the icing seems to be slowing melting off.

Oh well, Bake, Mistake, and Learn!

Chocolate Pistachio Wedding Cookies

1 Cup Butter, softened
1/3 Cup Confectioners' Sugar
1 Cup Ground Pistachios*
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Grated Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
Confectioners' Sugar and Grated Chocolate for dusting

* I split the recipe in two after mixing the butter and confectioners' sugar. I did one half batch of pistachios and the other pecan. You would need only a 1/2 cup of each if you do this.

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat butter and confectioners' sugar until creamy. Add nuts and vanilla, beating until combined. Add chocolate and beat just until combined. Stir in flour until smooth and evenly mixed.

Roll dough into 1-inch round balls and place on baking sheets. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown. Allow to cool on sheets for at least 2 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and chocolate. Remove from sheets and place on wire racks.

Makes aproximately 4 dozen cookies.


I really enjoyed the pecan version of this cookie, but I wasn't such a big fan of the pistachios. Really any nut could be used. I would also recomend Honey Roasted nuts to give the cookie a sweeter taste.

Wedding Cookies

Today I made some Chocolate Pistachio and Chocolate Pecan wedding cookies. The cookies were well recieved, but because I am my own worst critic, I wasn't terribly impressed with them. I liked the amount of chocolate and the amount of nuts in the recipe (which I will post tomorrow evening), however, even for wedding cookies, I thought they were a little dry. I would maybe add a little more butter (maybe 1/4 of a cup) or add less than the required 2 cups of flour.

Tuesday Bake Day

 It is June, the month of weddings, and seeing as how I recently lost (and found) my engagement ring, weddings are on the brain. I will be making wedding cookies, but instead of making traditional Russian wedding cookies, I will be following a recipe by Paula (add more butta y'all) Dean in which the cookies are made with chocolate and pistachio nuts instead of vanilla and pecans. I may still make a half batch of cookies with pistacios and half with pecans- I am, as of yet, undecided. I've never made wedding cookies before so wish me luck!

Cake Evolution

It is so interesting to see how far I've come in the last year. The white cake (3rd photo down) was my first cake. Then Noah's cake, then the Starbucks cake, then the Green flower cake, then the Raspberry lemon, then Jessica's birthday cake, and now the French Vanilla Cake.

It is a nice motivation to see my progess, but it is also a reminder of the techniques I have not mastered yet.

Noah's Cake

When my bestfriend (who LOVES frogs) had her first child I made her this cake.

She, her husband, and their families ate this cake to celebrate Noah's first  day home.

This was one of my first disaster cakes- it isn't very noticable in the picture but the cake leaned. I didn't cut the layers evenly and I added too much icing to compensate the problem. Also, when making bright or vibrant colors with Gel food coloring, one must remember that a little goes a long way. The only complaint I got from my friend is that after eating the cake, everyone's mouth was bright aqua. Something I also learned with this cake, Gel food coloring will darken over time. This is the color of the cake right after I finished decorating it... the next morning it was more of a dark teal color.

That is what this whole process is about Dollies, bake, mistake, and learn!

Starbucks Cake

Right before I left my job at Starbucks I made this cake.

It was a devil's food cake with Almond flavored icing and star shaped marshmallows.

I tried to do the logo of the Siren. I think for my first attempt at figure design it wasn't as bad as it could have been, however, it could certainly use some work.

What design should I try next?

First Try at Decorating

This was my first cake.

My attempt at using professional tools to decorate the cake.

French Vanilla

French Vanilla Cake with Buttercream Icing

Chocolate Hazelnut filled wafers and Dark Chocolate Shavings

Red Velvet Birthday Cake

I made this cake for a friend's birthday.

The polka dots and balls are fondant while the butterflies and daisies are a topper I made.

Photos of Past Cakes

I have only taken the first course Decorating so, by no means am I a professional. I am an amateur who simply wants to learn by experience.

Raspberry Whipped Cream Icing, Raspberry Puree Filling, Lemon Cake