Brandy Peach Hand-Pies
I promise. I’ve been baking…. and taking pictures… but not posting… Why? Vanity: my pictures have either turned out too blurry, too dark, or lets face it, just too plain ugly. I’ve gone five desserts without a single post!
But I determined in my heart that these peach hand-pies would make their debut on ToughMuffin no matter what! Friends and readers – here’s a post just for you. These mini peach turnovers are VERY good. Perfect for summer. Imagine – A splash of brandy in fresh peaches, and flaky buttery pie crust. It doesn’t get much better! THE RECIPE IS HERE
Brandy Peach Hand-Pies
adapted from SmittenKitchen
I picked these peaches from my cousin’s garden. A huge peach tree + My cousin’s aversion to peaches = Enough peaches to feed a village! These peaches were ripe, oozing all over my counter, and begging to be placed into a small pie. So of course, I obliged 
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We all know that dough needs to stay chilled in order for it to be flaky. But this recipe called for the flour and butter to be frozen before I even started working with it! But it was worth it. All I can say is – this bratty dough recipe had a delicious buttery result..
On the making these little hand-pies. .. I will give two warnings. They require plenty of TIME and COORDINATION!! Without just one of these, your pies will turn out a little like mine….
A fork is all you’ll need for decoration. A small slit will let the steam escape.
The result? These weren’t pretty, but boy were they tasty. Hot, piping, and straight out of the oven.. in this household, they put a smile on even the crankiest man’s face : ).
Enjoy!
Apple Cake..
Hello readers. I’m back! I know that my posts have been few and far between, but I promise – this blog will be back in commission soon. Here’s a post to start off the Spring, with many more on their way : )
APPLE CAKE
(Taken from SmittenKitchen)
Nothing says “home” like this simple, yet satisfying cake. Its not too sweet, and I promise that you wont regret making it. Throw open those windows and patio doors because your house is about to be filled with the sweetest springtime apple aroma!
Deceptively moist, cinnamon-y, sweet… this cake is a staple with tea, or with early morning coffee, and a perfect way to bid farewell to the winter and hello to the gorgeous California spring.
I started off by mixing and matching with green and red fuji apples.
Left the peels behind…
Threw some flour, orange juice, vanilla extract, and cinnamon together..
And enjoyed a slice, straight from the oven .
Nothing beats a homemade treat. Especially in the Spring!
If you’re lucky enough to be in California, I hope you’ll take advantage of the sunshine. I’ve been soaking in every ray that I can, because come fall, I’ll be on the east coast for law school. Likely, baking up a storm.
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..