Every since Maddy and Keola came back from New York and brought us back some Levain Bakery cookies, they've been obsessed. We don't have anything like these dense, half-baked monster cookies in Hawaii, so they've been going crazy with cookie cravings.
So for Christmas, I decided to bake them a copycat version of them. But lemme tell you, these things are monstrous and probably like half your daily calories, if not more. I didn't have cake flour so it took a little time to sift regular flour & cornstarch to create a substitute for it. I also used two whole bags of chocolate chips, and each cookie weighed out to a whopping 6oz. I had Cavina bring them home to Maddy & Keola on Christmas, and they were so ecstatic. I think they just found their new favorite cookie, and I've already gotten another request for another batch without walnuts.
0 Comments
I've had midterms for three weeks straight, and my beloved mother (who is also one of my best friends) has left to the mother land for two months, so the past three weeks have been pretty stressful.
I've told a few people, but baking is what keeps me alive during school hours - I think about what I'm gonna bake over the weekend, what ingredients I have in my fridge that I can use for my sweets, and as the week inches closer to Friday, I get just a tiny bit more anxious. Today, I baked three (THREE) different things, because I had to get rid of 1) apples, 2) clementines, and 3) heavy cream. I made these triple (double) chocolate scones last week, but modified the recipe and incorporated (too much) coffee, so I attempted them again this week, cut the coffee, sugar, and heavy cream, and they came out so. good. I could have eaten like five (which I basically did last week LOL. jk. I had three during the first day though. Wow. I have no self control). The recipe calls for a glaze and chocolate drizzle, but I honestly can't stand things too sweet, so these were so so so perfect. I didn't have chocolate chips, so while my apple streusel was in the oven, I drove to Foodland, bought $13 worth of chocolate, and made these angels. I prepped the chocolate dipped orange cookie dough yesterday, and sliced & baked em today and they came out a lot better than I thought. I used clementines in place of oranges, and wow who knew clementines are so hard to juice. And the zesting process made my grater orange. Yay. But the fragrance and flavor of orange came out just right, because it wasn't too overpowering, but you definitely know it's there. Lastly, my apple streusel pie came out a lot better than I thought it would. As I was tossing the apples with the spices and flour, they KEPT BREAKING and I was very sad. But all turned out well, but because I went exactly as the recipe stated, it was too sweet for my liking, so next time I'll definitely be cutting the sugar in both the apple mixture and streusel topping. Happy Strawberry Sunday!!
We went to Costco yesterday and a 2lb container of strawberries was only $6.99!?!?!! That's the regular price of a pound of strawberries in supermarkets. So naturally I bought it. But what to do with all these strawberries was the question. I made these super easy custard tarts and decorated them with strawberries, then brushed a reduced apricot jam to try and give it a glossier finish. I used a standard shortbread crust recipe, but I loveeeee shortbread so much, so the tarts all had hugely thick crusts HAHAHA. I love baking because it's so relaxing and stress relieving, and I'm starting to love the process of taking the pictures just as much as making the actual dish. ** Also, I probably gained like a pound the week I made this because I ate most of it by myself (like I do with all other sweets that I bake) Good morning & happy Saturday!
Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits and THEY WERE ON SALE AT TIMES FOR 2/$6. They're usually $5.99 for one so I was stoked. I bought three boxes lol. But I am only a 5"0 102lb girl, I couldn't possibly eat three boxes of strawberries. So I made some sweets! I used Betty Crocker's Strawberry Mousse Dessert Cups recipe for the base of my strawberry mousse, and because we had some leftover whipping cream, my mum made a super simple panna cotta to layer on top (which will go on the bottom next time because it's heavier than mousse). Then I just melted some Japanese dark chocolate, made some art, and bam. The perfect lil strawberry mousse! I also made some Strawberry Pound Cake using LoveFoodies' recipe. It was my first time making any sort of cake so I honestly didn't know how it'd turn out, and I was scared because I literally left the cake in the oven for an hour longer than the recipe said to because it just wouldn't bake on the inside?! But brah. It was one of the best pound cakes I've ever had (yes I am bias lol). I guess it was more of a strawberry bread? than a poundcake but nonetheless I ate half the small loaf on accident, so I didn't eat dinner that night HAHAHA. I love sweets but I'm super cheap and don't wanna pay for them, so I just make my own. I love baking because I like when people compliment me on the things I make (if they turn out decent lol).
We went to dinner at my uncle's restaurant this week for my cousin's 21st birthday. When they give you the tab they leave the Andes mint chocolates, and I absolutely love them (because I love mint chip). My other cousin got me three handfuls of chocolates from the kitchen before we left, and I had the perfect use for them. My sister worked at The Nook when they first opened in Pucks Alley, and there was a mint chocolate chip muffin that used real mint and the flavor literally exploded in my mouth (okay not literally but you know what I mean, it was amazing). I decided to try and recreate them with a Martha Stewart basic muffin recipe and added in my own mint and chocolate. I picked some mints from our mini garden (yes I had a photoshoot for my mint plant) and used a handful of the Andes chocolates, and although they didn't puff up as much as I wanted them too, the taste was much better than I expected. I accidentally ate three of them. |