ginger!

i know it's only the beginning of november, but i have the fever.

holiday fever, that is...

i can't lie...i've had it for some time now. i can hear the chorus of grumbles already, but i love seeing holiday displays. even when it's still warm enough for me to forgo a cardigan or jacket. i'll walk into a store and slowly drift away from sean, eyes like saucers, one hand stretched out longingly...towards the holiday displays.

i can't help it, i'm a sucker for candy cane stripes and gift wrap, twinkly things and sparkly do-dads.


the other day i walked into such a store and came home with a mean hankering for some gingerbread. back in the day, long, long ago when i worked for the coffee giant we all know (green aprons and venti cups), i loved to set up the pastry case. especially during holiday season. though, at that time, all of their goods were laden with hydrogenated oil (you could tell because we used to squish up an expired pastry from time to time...which would result in a puddle of clear oil...nice). i've been told they have changed their ways. anyways...the gingerbread came in a nice little loaf with a heavy slick of cream cheese frosting and a sprinkling of candied ginger.


though i don't remember exactly how it tasted, as i was cracked-out on eggnog lattes for the duration of the season, this gingerbread is better. i just know it.


ginger-spice bread
this is adapted from a martha stewart recipe. i swapped some of the spices and also changed some of the measurements as well. i also used fresh grated ginger since i always keep a good chunk in the freezer.

1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup molasses
1 large egg, lightly beaten

preheat oven to 325 F. grease an 8-inch sqaure pan (i used two small loaf pans). in a bowl rub brown sugar with the ginger to combine. add flour, salt, baking powder, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

place butter and water in a small saucepan to melt. stir into dry ingredients until smooth. stir in molasses and egg to combine. pour into prepared pan(s) and bake for about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (the mini loaves tooak about 25 minutes). cool on a rack before removing from pan.


cream cheese frosting
i just added powdered sugar until i got both a consistency and flavor i liked.

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon grand marnier
2 cups powdered sugar

in the bowl of a mixer, beat cream cheese and liquer on medium-high until creamy and fluffly. add powdered sugar in increments to combine. frost cake and garnish with chopped candied ginger.

a few words and pictures.

salted butter caramel sauce from the perfect scoop. if you don't have this book (yet...) and you like (love!) ice cream, you need it. it's wonderful. nuff said.

delightful on everything. even cereal...actually, especially cereal.

bittersweet...

hello, hello. i'm back...

with brownies!


these are a delight. the bitter chocolate shines here...there is just over 1 ounce of flour in there! this recipe comes from alice medrich's pure dessert. i love the composition of this book into flavor categories, it makes flavors like dairy and chocolate seem so new.

i've only been able to have a nibble here and there. i'm trying to exercise some self control...i do have a wedding dress to squeeze into in 8 months after all! in the book, these are described as having a texture somewhere between cake and mousse...and it's true. these came out pretty soft and tender. they are delightfully rich and definitely a bit elevated from your everyday-brownie (not that i have an everyday brownie...that would make for quite the chunky butt ;) however, they come together just as quickly as the standard brownie...just a little extra whipping for the eggs.


i served these in little fingers...which promptly fell apart out of hand. this is a fancy brownie. one that requires a fork or spoon and a plate. maybe a dollop of whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream. treat her right...she's a classy gal.



bittersweet brownies
adapted from pure dessert

as you can see, these have some nibbly bits on top. the recipe, as it is in the book, is unadorned (and they are amazing that way too!), i just added some pecans and cacao nibs for some texture. as always, do what you want. i'm going to go out there and say use a good chocolate here. it really is the star in this recipe and i'm going to guess that it will make a difference. i'm a fan of valrhona currently, use what you like best.

8 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1 teaspoon melted butter
pinch of salt
1/4 cup cacao nibs

in a small bowl mix butter, pecans and salt. toss with cacao nibs and set aside.

position rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 F. line your pan (8-inch square) w/ foil and grease.

place chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. stir frequently until melted and smooth. remove from heat and set aside.

in a medium bowl (or stand mixer) beat eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla with a hand mixer on high until eggs are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. whisk in the warm chocolate to combine. fold in the flour.

scrape batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with topping. bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 25-30 minutes. cool in the pan on a rack. invert onto a cutting board and peel foil. serve as you like.

*i used tart pans that i sprayed with oil. i didn't foil them and i reduced baking time to about 20 minutes.

apple hill

i made some cookies with pecans and potato starch and eggs whites. they came out really dense and not crisp like i had hoped. then, all the pictures i took...not good. bum-er.


so, instead i have pictures of apples for you. i took a ton, these are my faves.

sean and i went to apple hill (in camino, california) on saturday. basicaly there are a bunch of apple orchards, pumpkin patches and other delights...pies, honey, apple cider and locally made pantry goods. we stopped at one of the less crowded u-pick orchards. they had the cutest, tiny apples: granny's, fujis, and golden delicious. sean has never been, but visiting apple hill is one of my favorite fall-time traditions.

the one.

fern, she's a lovely dress.
whimsy, romance, charm, she has it all. i heart her so.

i just had to share...i went dress shopping tuesday with my mom and best pal at swoon...a bridal salon. the owner, michelle was wonderful and her salon is a perfect jewel box. it is lovely and so glam. i loved it! everything was definitely swoon-worthy.

i tried on 9 dresses and was torn between 3 gowns, one was short and adorable! one was very different with a very full skirt w/ pockets (pockets! delightful!)...and then there was fern with her lace details and sunburst pleating. my mom was very against the short dress, i thought she was going to vomit in her mouth when i walked out of the fitting room. no joke. i guess it helped along the decision making process.

it's been days since i've updated here...dang. life got a little busy, but i'm coming back soon. very soon.

quick! bread!

i love a quick bread. what baker hates on a quick bread? i like quick breads because like the morning friendly muffin, you can quite reasonably eat a slice for breakfast...yeah! also, surprise! they come together quickly and often with a single bowl. amazing.


banana bread is one of those quick breads that we've all encountered and it seems to be one of those things that is best made by someone's mother/aunt/grandmother. my mother is not a baker, the woman considers no-bake cookies a dreadful task. no. bake... so she sure was not pulling golden loaves of banana-goodness from the oven on the weekends. my mom is more apt to devour a steak dinner in the AM, rather than a dainty slice or muffin. that said, i have no favorite banana bread like so many of you probably do. so, i devised my own with a few delightful additions.


i did a quick search for banana breads and was led to simply recipes, which is a pretty amazing source for recipes. i added bourbon (like i saw on the ever wonderful smitten kitchen), chopped chocolate and pecans, and a few grates of nutmeg. i used organic cane sugar this time (you don't have to i just have a massive bag) and also reduced the amount to 3/4 cup.

sean really enjoyed the bread, he said it was, "um, so awesome. i liked the bits of chocolate and tasty nuts."

tasty nuts...haha.

sorry. he actually used those words, i can't help myself ;)


banana bread with chocolate chunks and pecans
adapted from simply recipes. i used 3 paper loaf forms, which i reduced the baking time to 40 minutes. if you use a single loaf pan the baking time is 1 hour.

3-4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg of the freshly grated variety
pinch salt
1/3 cup chopped chocolate, i used valrhona
1/2 cup chopped pecans

preheat oven to 350 F.

in a large bowl mix butter into banana with a wooden spoon. mix in sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon, incorporate well. sprinkle baking soda over the top of the mixture along with salt, mix. fold in flour. fold in nuts and chocolate. pour into buttered pan (4 x 8 in loaf) and bake for 1 hour. cool on a wire rack. remove from pan to slice.

so un-american, i know...

let me come clean here.

as much as i love pie and as tasty as apples are...i don't love apple pie. not even close. not even these pies...cute as they are! i wish i were awesome enough to love this american icon...but i'm not. i love all manner of berry pies, pies made w/ stone fruits of all varieties, sour cherry pie...omg l-o-v-e!


i mean, i've tried many an apple pie. some with blackberries and sour cream, caramel or topped with delicious crunchies...but, apple just ain't doin' a thing for me. i had a few spoonfuls of this pie, spiced with candied ginger and while i wasn't put off by any one element or combination thereof, i just wasn't wowed. i never am with apple pie.

i know, i'm ashamed. it puzzles me too.


so, now that i've tried my hardest to make these pies sound as unappetizing as possible, i'll mention the crust. ohmy. ohmy...is it ever good! i used dorie greenspan's recipe for "good for almost everything pie dough" and well, the title speaks the truth...except i thought it was better than just good ;)


good for almost everything pie dough
from dorie greenspan
usually i'm an all-butter kind of gal...but i tried this recipe, which has mostly butter and i loved it. i used non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening here with great results. also, if your feeling adventurous you can add a few grates of fresh nutmeg to the dough like i do. i'm a fan of the food processor, but lately i've been using a pastry blender with wonderful results...kickin' it old school ;) feel free to use either method.

makes enough dough for four ramekin pies with top crusts or for a single crust 9-inch pie.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces and chilled or frozen in the freezer
2 1/2 vegetable shortening, chilled or frozen
1/4 cup ice water

2 tablespoons half and half

place all ingredients except for water and half and half in a large bowl. using a pastry blender (fork tines, or even cold fingers) cut the butter and shortening into the flour until you have varied sized chunks of fat (yum!), oaty-looking crumbs and pea-sized balls. add ice water (not ice) about 1-2 tablespoons at a time and blend until dough comes together when pinched.

scrape the dough onto a smooth work surface and shape into a disk. there should still be chunks and streaks of butter visible throughout the dough. wrap with plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.
for ramekin pies, divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll out four pieces of dough to fit inside the ramekins, add filling. roll out remaining dough and top and seal each pie. cut an X in the top of each pie, brush with half and half and sprinkle with sugar(i used sanding sugar for visual appeal) and bake at 350 until the crust is golden brown and the insides are bubbling (for my oven, about 40 minutes).

apple pie filling
i used pink lady apples, i think that granny smiths are better for pie though. use what you prefer.

4 medium apples, peeled, cored and cut into a rough dice
4 pieces of candied ginger, minced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
1/2 cup sugar (this will depend on the tartness of your apples)
the juice of half a lemon

combine all ingredients in a large bowl and fold to coat well.

doing my part to spread the bonbon love...

i have a blog-landia friend, deb. she is a jewel makin' fiend and music swappin' pal. the tea pictured here (more on my flickr), from deb. yeah, it's jasmine pearl green tea. delightful.


so, my girl deb is having a fall giveway! she's always having sales and fantastic giveaways on her blog your destiny is stone golden. deb and her jewlies in the bon bon oiseau shop make the loveliest little treasures out of vintage pieces, inspired by her travels, in her greenpoint, brooklyn, NY studio.

not only do i own a few pairs of her dreamy earrings (i'm sporting my latest pair in my profile photo), deb is going to use her talents to craft a hair adornment for my wedding. big and romantic! i am so excited!!!

this little gem is up for grabs in the giveaway...fingers crossed!

so...like i was saying, deb is having a giveaway and a sale! the sale is a generous 30% off her le cirque aux papillon and prairie collections. the fleuri d'hiver collection is her very latest... beautiful and new and so very bon bon oiseau. check out the sale, i've already been treasure hunting holiday gifts ;)

277 days...

until the wedding! according to my daily project wedding emails. i've been trying to organize my thoughts and get this proverbial ball a-rollin. it's hard and a little overwhelming but, with the help of my friends and sean and my need to write lists...i think we'll be able to pull it off. i have paper garlands planned and a few other paper-craft projects in the works, that i will post as time progresses. i'm not going to make everything though...heck no. a few months ago, as i was perusing etsy for wedding goods i spied the cutest cake topper ever from lollipop workshop. had to have it, so i convo'd jenny and viola! cake topper! she even added glasses at the last minute. so friggin' cute! thank you jenny ;)


speaking of cute, i like small, cute food (but really, i like food of all sizes). i think it even tastes cute. like these little lemon tarts...so cute! sunny lemon and toasty meringue...cute!

okay, i'll stop.


for the crust i used the same sable breton base (i froze it and it was still wonderful) that i used for the raspberry and cream tartlettes from last week. i also improvised a swiss meringue because sometimes i feel like traditional meringue (american style?) is too foamy.

lemon curd
this recipe comes from baking: from my home to yours. i added the juice of one more lemon, rebel that i am ;)

1 1/4 cups sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pieces
1 large egg
6 large egg yolks
freshly squeezed juice of 5 lemons

put all of the ingredients into a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. stir constantly over medium heat until the butter melts and the mixture has thickened like custard. be sure to stir without stopping as the mixture will curdle easily. the curd is done when you can run a finger across the back of your spoon and the curd does not run back into the track. pour into a heatproof bow and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd. cool to room temperature and srtore int the refrigerator. the curd will thicken as it cools.

spoon cooled curd onto baked and cooled sable breton bases. top with meringue and toast.

swiss meringue
4 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

in the bowl of a stand mixer combine all ingredients and set over a pan of simmering water. stir the mixture constantly until the sugar dissolves and eggs are warm to the touch. an easy way to check if the sugar has dissolved is to rub a bit of the mixture between your fingers...if it's smooth you're golden. place the mixer bowl on the stand fitted with a whisk attachment. beat, gradually increasing speed from med-low to high until meringue is stiff, not dry. spoon or pipe onto tarts and either brown with a torch or toast under the broiler.

oh, monday...

on monday, labor day, we brilliantly decided to go to ikea. sean and i have been planning this since we moved into our new place in july. our old dresser didn't even make it out of the apartment, our old couch is done, we have been coffee table-less for a few years and sean needed a desk. so, we coordinated with our friends danny and jackie and caravaned it to west sacramento.

holy hell were we not prepared to spend 4 hours (usually a 2 hour trip, depending on how speedy you are ;) trying to traverse the sierras from reno to sacramento. that trip rarely takes that long, even in inclement weather. we, stupidly, did not foresee the mass exodus of labor day-weekenders and burning man goers out of the black rock desert with their cars and bicycles and giant mobile art pieces covered and embedded with poof dirt (bug dust, playa sand, hella-powdery-dust-of-doom) to head back to their homes and jobs and lives.

anyway, i digress, as usual...by the time we got to ikea, jackie was green with car-sickiness in their car, while i was swearing to disembowel the other f-ing drivers with a bionic-raptor-pinky-claw that i will apparently someday have grafted onto my hand. sean, however, had his mind on swedish meatballs and cheap-moderately priced furniture. i like a man with priorities.

speaking of priorities, let's talk brownies. we've all had a brownie or two in our time, i definitely have and i have the waist-line to prove it. these brownies combine two of my favorite things: peanut butter and chocolate. they are irresistible! omigodnomnomnom! i had one before our friends arrived for our labor day fête...and then i had another when they arrived...and one for dessert...and yes, one after they left (don't worry, i washed it all down with copious amounts of white sangria that jackie made).


our dog jezebel even attempted to poison herself by eating the leftovers as evidenced by the torn and pb smeared bag remnants i picked up off the floor the next day. she's okay, but what a fiend she is.

make these, they will rock your socks off. i promise. unless you hate peanut butter. then i hate you. j/k, i don't hate you...we just won't be able to discuss peanut butter, because well, i just can't understand that kind of insanity.

peanut butter frosted brownies
adapted from epicurious.com
the original recipe calls for an additional layer of chocolate. i like my pb-chocolate ratio to be 50/50 0r 60/40 with the peanut butter as the star.

3/4 cup butter, unsalted, cut into small pieces
10 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (i used valrhona feves, omg! amazing!)
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, room temp
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup salted, roasted peanuts chopped

position rack in oven and preheat to 325 F. line a 9x13 pan with foil, leaving a long overhang. butter the foil.

add butter and chocolate to a medium saucepan. over low heat, stir constantly until chocolate melts and is smooth. remove from heat and whisk in sugar, vanilla and salt. add eggs one at a time and mix until combines. fold in the flour and peanuts. pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick insrted in center comes out with few crumbs attached.

cool completely on a rack.

peanut butter frosting
i think the nutmeg in this does amazing, magical things. don't skip it fools. i used smooth pb, the recipe calls for chunky. do what you want.

1 cup peanut butter (natural is not recomended)
1/2 stick softened butter, unsalted
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon whole milk
optional: 1/4 cup chopped, roasted peanuts

beat butter and peanut butter to combine in the bowl of a mixer or with a hand mixer and medium bowl. blend in sugar, salt, nutmeg and milk. spread frosting over cooled brownies and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.