Cocoa Chocolate Chip Cookies
Guys, these cookies by Dorie Greenspan were the bomb. Me and Jen made these with Sharffen Berger and Valrhona Cocoa and that made all the difference. You can really taste the cocao in these – they’re chewy and not too sweet, and they’ve already become one of my favorites. We also used fleur de sel (french sea salt) to kick it up a notch 
. Here is the RECIPE
The star ingredient here is the cocoa:
We used a special cookie scooper for perfect sized cookies
The result?
Chewy chocolate cookies done right.
Thanks Dorie. Enjoy!
Sweet Little Things
I baked with my pastry chef friend (Jen Chao) to prepare for a soiree for Alex Smith. For those who don’t know him, he’s the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers! I was only there to help with the final assembly today, but soon I’ll join her on a nitty-gritty-baking day. That way I can show you the actual process and get you some good recipes!
Without further ado, here is what Alex Smith is dining on:
Lavendar Short Bread Cookies Sandwiched with Lemon Cream Cheese
These were absolutely delicious. The shortbread cookies practically melted in your mouth and the lavender taste was pretty phenomenal. We started with a tray of these:
Filled them with a touch of Lemon Cream Cheese:
And made them into these bite-sized mini-sandwiches:
Pumpkin Financiers
Now these are deceptive little cakes. They look like pumpkin bread but they melt in your mouth. They’re french tea cakes with a brown-butter and powdered-sugar base. We started by topping off our cakes with a bit of icing:
Then touched them off with a candied pecan:
Fancy Dark Chocolate Shells with Homemade Caramel
Like I said the last time, dessert isn’t complete without the chocolates. Now I’m not a fan of caramel, but Jen’s homemade caramel in these elegant chocolate shells were pretty darn amazing.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Crunchy Peanut Butter Frosting
We thought we’d feed everyone’s inner child with these moist cakes..
And if you’re a fan of the Crunchies, you should have been there for this Crunchy Peanut Butter Frosting
Almond Pear Tart
Now what these lack in good looks, they make up for in taste. These tarts were crumbly melt-in-your-mouth perfect, and a pear-almond kick that would knock your socks off.
Petite Pumpkin Pies
We ended with a tribute to fall. We had big pumpkin pies in the fridge, but used the leftovers to make these Minis. Topped with cream cheese frosting and a curl of orange peel, and you have the perfect end to this dessert buffet, wouldn’t you say – Alex Smith?
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Fruit Tart Adventures with a Pastry Chef
I thought I’d kick off my blog with a post I’ve long-promised – Documenting my 10-hour baking adventures with local pastry chef and friend, Jen Chao. We didn’t make ‘The Cake’, but we did cater the rest of the desserts for a very posh wedding in the hills of Los Altos.
While I’m not thinking to pursue baking as my career, I will say that I’ve never had as much fun making desserts as I did that day. My hope is that you enjoy the following documentation as much as I enjoyed partaking in it!
We’ll Begin With A Classic:
Tell me, who doesn’t like fruit tarts? And what better time to make them than these final days of summer? We began by making endless trays of tart shells. (If you’d like to learn how, this is my first lesson on the Tutorials page)
The vanilla cream was also made from scratch. Piping came easy, although one tart did take the fall as my ugly first.
And the result? A perfect medly of summer fruits atop sweet custard and a buttery crust.
Its Hard to Top a Classic, but this Rebel will try..
Hands down, my favorite dessert that day was the fruit tart’s rebel brother – the tiny lemon meringues. Keep reading and you’ll see why. The first step was to make the meringue. We made enough Meringue to feed a village, but a light dallop is all each lemon custard tart got.
We didn’t use alcohol, but we certainly spiked the tarts.
We topped them off with blueberries and these bad boys appeared. It was teenage rebellion done right.
Flame on, One More Time
Oh, the famous Crème brûlée. Its just another type of custard, whose French name means “burnt cream”. So burn it we did. All it takes is raw sugar sprinkled on top and a butane torch from Home Depot, to get a beautiful flame like the one you see below.
Luckily for our guests, the fun didn’t just stop at one…
And the Grand Finale
Chocoholics unite! We all know that dessert isn’t the same without chocolate. So we had for our guests: truffles laced with kalua, ganache and irish cream, and dark chocolates filled with caramel, raspberry and (for the true-cocao-lover) more chocolate.
Could we have ended the evening on a more satisfactory note?
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So to my faithful readers, I’ve fulfilled my end of the bargain. You have your blog and you have your post. So its only fair for me to ask - What did you think? 
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Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie
This Thanksgiving, I discovered my FAVORITE RECIPE TO DATE! This Nutmeg Maple Tart.
It almost tastes like pumpkin pie, only it is MUCH MUCH better. It blends the beautiful, subtle sweet-nutty flavor of Maple Syrup with Nutmeg and Cinnamon to make a beautifully browned tart. Those who have followed my baking adventures from the start claim that it is the best dessert I have made thus far. I’d have to agree. This tart is EXTREMELY good.
Those of you who have had trouble with making the perfect Tart Shell will celebrate too. This recipe makes a perfect, unshrinkable tart shell. Its buttery and crumbly, and does not require pie weights! Something you’d expect from a Dorie Greenspan recipe..
Without further ado, here are the RECIPES for the UNSHRINKABLE TART SHELL and the NUTMEG MAPLE TART. If you have a holiday dinner coming up, I’d highly recommend this crowd-pleaser. You’ll have nothing left by the end of the night : ).
Blueberry Crumb Bars
Everyone has their own ways of de-stressing. For some, its reading – for others, blogging. For me, its running, journaling, and (you guessed it) baking. There’s just something therapeutic about kneading flour, measuring sugar, chopping nuts, and assembling an altogether sweet treat for everyone to enjoy.
Today I made these BLUEBERRY CRUMB BARS. The RECIPE is HERE.
And these certainly lived up to their name. They were buttery, crumbly, juicy.. how could you have less when you start out with those amazing fresh sweet juicy crisp blueberries? I had to refrain from popping them into my mouth before they made their way onto the shortbread..
Fruit Tarts with Golden Kiwis and Blueberries
Oldarmstrong did something INGENIOUS with my site. He set it up with my flickr account so I can put my pictures into slideshows! This should make my posts a little more manageable. Instead of scrolling down to see all the pictures, you can click on them individually below. As you roll over the individual pictures you’ll see my commentary appear above them. Enjoy : )
Apparently, there’s this rumor floating around that I’m a master chef and that one day I’ll have my big debut with a bake shop. I hate to burst that balloon but (POKE)(SATISFYING POP) sorry folks, not in the near future! I’m still laboriously traveling that learning curve and I have a ways to go before I even nail the basics. Case in point? Welcome to unsuccessful attempt #5 at Tart Crust. Enjoy!!
Premium Chocolate and Cinnamon Ice Cream
I have one thing to say: IT IS INDEED POSSIBLE TO MAKE ICE CREAM WITHOUT AN ICE CREAM MAKER!! Sure, it will take more work on your part, but it is not too difficult to make perfectly churned, soft ice cream with just a hand-held blender. I’ll explain how!
YOU CAN FIND THE FULL RECIPE HERE
This was my first attempt at ice cream but the result was delicious- loved by all who tried. Its not complicated, and a joy to make as these summer days come to an end. Trust me, these two flavors complement each other perfectly.
Starting off, you’ll want to make sure you buy cinnamon sticks. Powder is okay for some desserts, but not for this one
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Cook your cinnamon sticks and dark chocolate (go with a good quality chopped up bar) in milk over low heat. Feel free to use skim, I used 1% and its still incredibly creamy.
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Combine this mixture with the egg yolk/sugar/ground cinnamon mixture you’ll heat over a double broiler for this creamy chocolate mixture.
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Chill for 30 minutes in the fridge before you add the cream. And now the secret . To make ice cream by hand you’ll chill the mixture in a shallow metal container for 2 hours, remove from the freezer and beat smooth with electric beaters. Repeat this process twice more until solid. Move this mixture into a plastic container, cover with plastic wrap (touching the ice cream so no ice crystals form) and freeze for 7-8 hours.
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And the result is as follows. Its quite delicious with fresh blueberries
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