After last Sunday's decadent cupcake adventure, I managed to resist the urge until early Wednesday morning when I found myself up at 5:30 am with 8 inches of new snow on the ground. Typically, I head out by 6:15 to meet some good friends and go for a walk before work, but I knew I would never make it out of my driveway....and frankly, a longer morning at home is a welcome change. So...what do I do with my extra time,,, I bake for my math department colleagues. I have always loved Morning Glory muffins and decided to finally make them myself. I was surprised by how long it took to grate the carrots, peel and dice the apple, etc...but maybe that was just because I had not finished my cup of coffee! Anyway, I was pleased with how tasty the muffins were and they were a nice addition to our cozy office as people slowly arrived covered with snow and stomping their boots in the doorway. (By the way, it took me approximately 40 tries to make it up and out of my steep uphill driveway, but I made it. GO SUBARU!)
Thursday evenings typically bring the prospect of "Java Hut" on Friday mornings and the opportunity to bake again for the weekly gathering! (More about Java Hut another time.) Anyway, it was my friend Kayden's birthday, so of course we had to have a celebratory birthday coffee cake; this time a yummy buttermilk/cinnamon batter with chopped Ghiradelli milk chocolate in it and pecans on top. And, since I had not made biscotti in a few weeks, I decided to go crazy and make two things for our morning gathering. I love the chocolate biscotti recipe form the Bon Appetit cookbook, but I make a few changes like some chopped dried cherries and white chocolate chips. When they are completely baked and cooled, I drizzle them with some melted white chocolate..which go nicely with a freshly brewed cappuccino.
I took off 24 hours before venturing into the sugar/butter/flour world again and baked the first layer of a chocolate cake for Kayden's 70's themed birthday party. It is a really easy recipe but I baked it in a springform pan which I thought would NEVER cook, but it did. (Notice the concave nature of the cake below)Super moist and dark(from the brewed coffee in the batter), I baked layer #2 today. I split the layers and put raspberry jam between them and will frost to all with a bright yellow buttercream. I am making a smiley face "Have a Nice Day" cake in honor of the 70's retro theme.
Just to keep me busy while I was waiting for the cake to bake, I mixed up and have since baked off some of my "Almond Joy" cookies. I take a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe and make some adjustments...almond flavoring, coconut, wheat germ, slivered almonds and they end up having all of the nice flavors of the candy bar, but in crispy, chewy cookie form. I head out to Tucson tomorrow to visit a group of students from my school who are on a traveling program which I oversee....so they will enjoy the treats and I got to bake.
Won't be back until later in the week, but no doubt there will be more baking!
yours in baking-
p
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