Tuesday, March 9, 2010

TWD: Thumbprints for us Big Guys


This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Mike of Ugly Food Dude, who picked a great hazelnut-based cookie filled with raspberry jam...

Question: mine came out anything but a cookie I would call for a 'big guy'--they were super miniature..I took a teaspoon of dough, used the end of the wooden spoon, all as detailed in directions, and yet I can't say that they looked anything like the picture in Dorie's book...were there camera tricks..smoke & mirrors?? Or is the 'big guys' supposed to mean some sort of grown up recipe/flavors, not the size of the cookie? (but still..the photo in the book seem much larger)

Regardless, I was happy to try something I never would have done otherwise on my own--my problem is that I overbaked the dough...so I have the other half of the dough in the freezer for a rainy day--when I will reduce cooking time by enough to not have the cookies come out with a burn sort of taste....

Mike, thanks for picking a great recipe--even overdone they were pretty good and I'm looking forward to making the 2nd batch soon!!

Oh--and I tried raspberry jam in some, blueberry in some others...some, as you see in the photo cracked, but the jam was thick enough that it did not leak out too much!
Apologies for a lack-luster boring post..I am half-asleep, dead tired right now..just wanted to be sure I got this posted on Tuesday!! Even though I ruined them, I was glad to bake along this week!

Monday, March 1, 2010

My first "occassion" cake

We had my son's baptism this past weekend...finally...and I am happy to report that I faced down the scary "special occassion cake" demon and I went ahead and made the cake for our 30+ party myself. (How can I look anyone in the face and tell them I have a baking blog--and then ORDER a cake from a bakery? Just could not bring myself to do it)


I knew that it would come out looking quite home made--which it did...but it TASTED AMAZING! I used Martha Stewart's One Bowl Chocolate Cake, and my dear friend Cathy gave me the link to use for the buttercream frosting! I had the ultimate one-two knockdown punch going..everyone loved it! And I think it looked rather charming--if only because you can tell that it was home-made. It was a labor of love--I had so much fun planning this very special day and am still smiling at what a perfect day it truly was.