TWD - Creme Brulee

Ahh, ye olde standby, creme brulee. Served in every "nice" steakhouse the country over. I used to be wowed by creme brulee. Then I made it - a 10-minute custard with some burnt sugar on top.


It is totally my fault that I'm not big on creme brulee anymore. It's lost all its mystique - like looking behind the curtain and finding the Wizard. But hey, YOU are more than welcome to make it and enjoy it in all its glory. Don't listen to the old bitter lady. ;)

This week's recipe was chosen by Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake and can be found on page 393 of Baking, From My Home to Yours.

The recipe suggested using either sugar or light brown sugar for caramelizing, but the brown sugar clumped and burned and I didn't like it at all. The plain sugar is definitely my pick.

TWD - Chocolate Chunkers

This week's recipe is exactly the way it sounds - chunks with chocolate. Claudia of Fool for Food chose this recipe. (yes, it's in German)



Nuts, chips, chunks, and fruit all made their way into this cookie. I subbed Craisins for raisins (raisins and chocolate just don't go together in my world) and used toasted pecans, although Dorie suggested salted peanuts. I love my pecans, but I really think the peanuts would have been great in this. Next time I'll cut down on the fruit or leave it out entirely, and put in more nuts. I could barely discern the semi-sweet chips and milk chocolate chunks in the cookie because of the chocolate base.

I was really looking forward to these cookies, but they didn't live up to my expectations. They are far from bad I just thought they would be better.

Anyway, my family and friends are enjoying the fruits of my labor...

TWD - not a fan of malt

This week's recipe was a cook with malt powder in the dough and Whoppers chopped up. I do NOT like malt. I don't like to drink malts and I do NOT like Whoppers. bleah. They always taste so chalky.

So instead, because I needed a birthday cake for my mom's party this week, I turned to the Dorie book and on page 250 I found the Perfect Party Cake. Perfect it is!



The recipe as written calls for raspberry preserves but my mom specifically asked for apricot so I used a jar of preserves (way more than the 2/3 cup called for).

I had never made a Swiss meringue buttercream successfully before, but this one came together beautifully.

Everybody loved it, including my mom. I was ok with it, it wasn't up there with my favorites. (I think I am just not a white cake fan). But it is very versatile and bakes up great so I'll use it in the future.



4 layers with buttercream and apricots sandwiched between - yum!

Martha's Blueberry Muffins

I bought a 2 lb clamshell of blueberries at Costco, so realized I suddenly had enough to EAT as much as I want AND bake! So I made blueberry muffins to send to my attorneys to thank them for their hard work on my new business enterprise.

I decided to go right to the source and use a recipe out of Martha's Baking Handbook.

The recipe is also available online HERE.

The recipe in the book omits the 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg mixture and advises you sprinkle with sugar. I used the really coarse and crunchy sanding sugar on top and I was told it was what MADE the muffins. I really LOVE the muffin tops and I like them to be crunchy as well.



Yum, crunchy craggly tops! 2 cups of blueberries really fills each muffin and when you break it open it's almost entirely blue with the berries. This one is a simple, easy, winner of a muffin that uses ingredients you will have on hand.

TWD - Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

Isn't that a mouthful? This week's recipe comes courtesy of Stefany of Proceed with Caution. They are almost kitchen sink cookies, with oatmeal, chocolate chips, peanut butter, peanuts, and whatever else you feel like adding. (I added salted peanuts and peanut butter chips)

I really felt like the salted peanuts made the cookies. The recipe didn't call for much salt in them, and I felt like it played off the sweetness of the chips (there were a lot of chocolate chips) really well.

Letting the dough chill well was important, as it was much easier to work with and they didn't spread very much.


Ready for the oven!

The peanut butter flavor isn't very pronounced, so don't think of these as a peanut butter cookie with oatmeal. They have cinnamon and nutmeg and I don't know if I added too much nutmeg or because it was freshly ground, but I could really taste it in the end product and it was a really good flavor.

Everyone loved them and I might make these again!