Chocolate Almond Saltine Toffee Crunch {swoon}

When I saw these on Baking And Boys! by Katrina I KNEW I had to make them, especially when they also popped up on Lisa's Jersey Girl Cooks blog on the very. same. day. It was totally in the stars and fate said that I would be making these at some point, soon. Edit: Props to Lisa over at The Cutting Edge of Ordinary too (I love all my Lisas ;D), plus Ghetto Toffee sounds wayyy more like it.

Superbowl Sunday party. DH's Office People. Must make and bring something fabulous, yet incredibly easy.

Enter Chocolate Almond Saltine Toffee Crunch. I had 2 women almost tackle me (pun intended) wanting the recipe. Good thing it's easy to remember. This stuff IS addicting and so simple to make. In fact, you probably have all the ingredients on hand in your pantry RIGHT NOW to whip up a batch of these. Be sure you have somewhere to take them as I promise you will eat them all in one sitting if not.

Chocolate Almond Saltine Toffee Crunch

1 1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers (or as many as it takes to completely cover your tray)
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 tsp. almond extract (optional - a little goes a long way)
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350º. Line jelly roll pan with foil and spray with non-stick spray. (If you use a silicone baking mat, use the foil underneath anyway - makes it easier to lift out.) Lay crackers out flat on foil.

Melt sugar and butter. Add almond extract and bring to boil, whisking until all are incorporated and mixture looks "foamy" (about 3 to 5 minutes). Pour over crackers and spread to coat. Bake 5 minutes in 350º oven or until bubbly.

Remove from oven. While hot, sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips, let soften and melt, then spread. It will take about 4 - 5 minutes for all the chocolate to melt enough to spread. Offset spatula works great here. Sprinkle with whatever toppings you like or leave plain - I used toasted almonds.

I put the tray into the freezer for a few minutes to flash freeze, removed it and popped the slab of toffee out of the pan and peeled off the mat and the foil. Lay it on a cutting board and using pizza cutter, cut into squares. Alternately, you can break it into pieces. Keep stored in the refrigerator (if they last that long).

Marbled Chocolate Orange Sour Cream Pound Cake (and thanks!)

This sad, sad little slice is the one that almost got away. I almost forgot to take a picture of this test sample it before applying it directly to my hips. (Hello, it IS called pound cake for a reason.)

"Obligation baking" forced me into the kitchen last night to whip up something for a school event this morning that I promised I'd send something in for last week; last week before I became congested nasal ditsy zombie girl. (My illness is/was a sinus infection, by the way. I got some super duper antibiotics today - more on that later - and I’m hoping they work fast. Thanks for all your well wishes! They really helped brighten my soggy spirits!)

Back to drool. This is my go-to recipe when I need something easy, fast and fabulous. I almost always have all the ingredients on hand and I can add in different flavors or mix-ins so that it has a different spin every time.

Last night I decided to do orange. I’ve never made one this way, but I do love those chocolate orange slammer thingies that come out at Christmas; you know it looks like an orange made out of chocolate, where you whomp it on the table and all the sections of “orange” come falling out into individual slices of deliciousness? Mmmm. (Just for you, right now I googled “orange whack chocolate foil” and lo and behold: these are Terry’s Chocolate Oranges. Look for them on your grocer’s shelves soon. The Dark Chocolate ROCKS!)

But I digress. But just so you know, in my book, Orange + Chocolate = YUM.

Excavating Digging in the back of the fridge for the sour cream part of the program, I passed a huge vat carton of Fat-Free Vanilla Yogurt that a friend had given me and was yet unopened. After going to a lecture the other night by She/He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-Until-I-Write-The-Post, I was inspired to swap out half the sour cream with the yogurt. This is not unusual, as I usually do most of my recipes using the guinea pig method: I deliver the results to the unsuspecting victims and wait for feedback that way. So far, so good.

As for this cake? I loved it. LOVED. IT. I am so making this one again, as there were no leftovers to gorge myself on since I sent it off to school. Of course, as you saw in the pitiful photo, I did officially have to test it, just in case, and of course I did it for You. You, so I could faithfully report my findings and so You could see the photos. I don't mind. You're worth it.

The ironic part of the official testing part all goes back to being sick. I got sick right at the time that I had my regular physical scheduled for, which was today. The Good: one co-pay (yes!), The Bad: you know how you're not supposed to eat or drink anything before a physical? Like how they call and give you the drill (say it with me now): "Nothing to eat or drink after midnight the day of your appointment except for dry toast and black coffee" and I'm thinking who the hell eats dry toast and black coffee on a good day? Um, remember how I said I was whipping this decadence up last night? (You know where I'm going with this, don't you?) Picture me as a rabid wolverine: snarfing down my test sample(s) at 11:55 pm, chugging milk straight out of the jug to go along with it, crumbs flying everywhere - I think I even got it in my hair. I didn't care. Man it was sooooo good. And oh yeah, the yogurt thing? Couldn't tell the difference at all. I took samples from everywhere, just to be sure, just for You.

As for the physical (thanks for asking), well.... hmm. I've done the weight/scale thing two different ways in the past: 1) I tell the nurse that I am wearing 10 pound shoes (each), or 2) I do it like we did it at Weight Watchers: you've waited in line for 20 minutes and finally it's your turn to be weighed, electronically, to the ounce. You step up to the counter, (hello, how are you, fine) give them your papers, casually approach the scale, and since you don't want to hold up the rest of the line, BAM! you whip into a frenzy, frantically stripping down to almost naked in the middle of the place, taking off your shoes, socks, belt, jewelry, watch, earrings, sunglasses, ballcap, hair clip, while at the same time emptying your pockets of keys, phone, tissues, gum and Splenda packets, dumping them all on the floor in a heap, making sure you went potty right before it was your turn to jump on the scale and drop most of your dignity (hold my place in line, 'kay? I'll be right back), exhaling deeply while sucking in your gut at the same time, and holding it all in place before stepping up on the platform, praying they'd get the measurement before you passed out from not breathing. I had on 10 pound shoes today. It was too damn cold to go thru all that work, when I know I well deserved whatever the evil thing had to say.

After all that, in case you are inspired to try this creation, here's the recipe. I don’t know where I got my original one from, but I did find its maternal grandparents on the Nestlé’s site. Enjoy.

Marbled Chocolate Orange Sour Cream Pound Cake
Adapted from Nestlé’s recipe found here

Ingredients:

1 cup (6 oz.) Nestlé Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chips)
1 pkg. (18.25 oz.) yellow cake mix
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream (I used ½ cup sour cream and ½ cup fat-free vanilla yogurt)
1 cup water
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. orange extract (or insert other extract flavor here. It’s good without any extras too.)
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions:
Position rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 375° F. Spray 10 inch/12 cup Bundt or tube pan with cooking spray or Baker’s Joy spray.

Microwave morsels in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 30 seconds; Stir to blend. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10 to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Set aside.

Combine cake mix, eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, water, granulated sugar and extract (if using) in a large mixing bowl. With an electric mixer, beat on low speed until moistened. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes.

Spoon 2 cups of batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate. Use the mixer and completely mix the batter with the chocolate to make chocolate batter. You now have two bowls of batter: one chocolate and one yellow. Spoon batters into prepared pan, alternating/layering them, beginning and ending with yellow batter. I usually get just one layer of chocolate sandwiched in between the 2 yellow, but sometime I can slip in a small chocolate one as well.

Bake for 55 minutes or until wooden toothpick (I use a bamboo skewer) inserted in cake comes out with only a few crumbs sticking to it. (Very “clean” toothpicks sometimes equal an over-dry or over done cake.) Cool completely in pan. (Yes, completely). Unmold onto either cutting board or serving platter. This cake needs to be refrigerated overnight in order to create beautiful, clean slices. If you have a good quality electric knife that works great! Slice and serve as desired: chilled, room temperature or warmed slightly in microwave. Optional: dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Variations:
You could add peppermint extract, lemon extract (and/or use a lemon cake mix), you could do chocolate cake mix with chocolaty swirl (I’d bump up the quantity of chips for this one), pecans; the list is endless.

TWD: (Shama Lama Ding Dong) Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

If I searched,

This whole wide world,

I'd never never never, find me a girl,

Who'd love me, The way that you do.

Cause You're my Shama Lama, Rama Rama Rama Ding Dong

Baby, you put the ooh mou mou oh oh oh oh,

back into my smile, child

That is why,
That is why,

You are my sugar dee doo doo, yeah.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Can't name that tune? It's from "Animal House". Click here to sing along :D )

So Hit It: Here are Dorie's Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes but twisted up a bit. I used a rounded 1/4 cup of cocoa powder, added a teaspoon of instant coffee and changed out the buttermilk for sour cream. And The Filling. Oh the filling! The filling is the Hostess Ding Dong pure sugary bliss filling found here. I also used Nutella in some of them (Nutella! Where have you been all my life??? But that's another post.)

Thanks to Clara of I Heart Food4Thought for choosing this recipe. To see what all the other TWDers did with this recipe, check out the blogroll here. If you'd like to try making Dorie’s Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes for yourself, you can find the recipe on our hostesses blog, or in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note, Tayna from Sunday Baker is celebrating her one year blogaversary this week with all kinds of fun things, including some giveaways, fun discussions, lots of recipes and more. Please check out her blog and if you want to be entered in her drawing, just leave her a comment. It's that simple. Be sure to mention me in the comment so I can get an extra entry in the drawing! ;) (You never know, if I win the cookbook (Taste of Home's Best Loved Cookies and Bars), you just might get a little something from me in return!) Check out this blog, you won't be sorry!

White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

I was in the mood for a Halloweenie, fallish treat. What says that better than Rice Krispie Treats? Here's a grown up version that is sure to get you in the mood.

White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats
Makes 20-50 treats

Adapted from David Lebovitz and Kellogg's original recipe

3 tablespoons (45g) salted butter

3 1/2 ounces (100g) white chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup (100g) candied peanuts (I used salted, honey roast peanuts)

10 ounce (300gr) bag marshmallows, snipped in half

6 cups (200g) Rice Krispies

1. Spray or lightly-oil a 13 x 9-inch (approx 30 x 22cm) rectangular pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the white chocolate and stir until melted.
3. Add the marshmallows and stir constantly over the heat until completely melted. (If they start to scorch on the bottom, remove from heat and continue to stir, placing the pan back on the heat occasionally, and stirring until smooth.
4. Remove from heat and add the candied peanuts and Rick Krispies until well combined. A rubber spatula or flexible pastry scraper works best. I used salad tongs and did the fluffing method to stop the rice krispies for getting smashed and the hot marshmallow from burning my fingers.
5. Scrape into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Let cool.
Serving and storage: Cut into neat bars or squares with a sharp knife. These are best enjoyed the day they're made, although they can be covered snugly with a sheet of aluminum foil and stored at room temperature for 2 to 3 days longer.

Cooks Note:
DO NOT top with milk chocolate drizzle like I did on these in the pictures. Totally changes the flavor and the white chocolate part is shunted to the background :(

The Bake Sale

Wow. I am so behind in my postings. Here are the recipes I made for our school bake sale back in mid-September. I wanted to make some things that appealed more to the teachers than the kids, because, let’s face it, kids will eat anything. Teachers, not so much.

I went trolling around the internet and my google reader to see what I could find that would be good for a bake sale. Here were my criteria:
1. Easy to make
2. Reasonably inexpensive ingredients
3. Easily packaged
4. Not too messy to eat
5. Something worth .25 to .50 cents
6. Something different than the ubiquitous oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies.

After a lot of searching, I came up with 3 recipes.

Here’s the first:
Butterscotch Coconut Drop Cookies
from Recipezaar

These turned out well, but came out much thinner than I anticipated. The cookie was very chewy and even somewhat “flexible” for lack of a better term.







Number 2: Rocky Road Smores/Brownie Muffins

These came from Anna of Cookie Madness. Very nice and a big seller. I toasted the finished product under the broiler for a few minutes to toast up the marshmallows and melt the chocolate a little bit so everything would stay put.

Third: (ready for a mouthful?)

Jumbo Chipotle Chocolate Brownie Muffins with Praline Topping.

I also found this basic recipe and idea on Recipezaar, but I morphed it into a brownie served in individual jumbo sized muffin cups. I added about 1 tsp. of ground chipotle pepper to the batter. I had read in the comments about doubling the topping. I did this and it was way too much for this serving method.

These didn’t photograph well, but they were so good. Just the right amount of pepper to give a teeny bit of heat and interest.

I was exhausted after cooking all day, and my kitchen looked like it had imploded. I had to leave to run hither thither and yon taking kids to activities, so I put up the perishables and left the rest for later. To my amazement, DH beat me home (this in itself is remarkable in that he was home while the sun was still out) AND he cleaned up the mess! Shocked, amazed and oh so grateful. Thanks honey.

I’m not sure how we did at the sale, but my kids were very happy gorging themselves on sweets. The Big Ones even bought some wee gifties for their teachers. Those are two smart cookies, if I do say so myself.

TWD: Creme Brulee

For your consideration: Crème Brulee from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 393, featured this week on Tuesdays with Dorrie.

Simple to make, easy elegance. Breakfast of Champions. I waited until the last minute and made these last night. I just (just) toasted these up and needed to taste test them to be sure they passed muster. I have a butane torch (thanks D!), but haven’t quite figured out how to use it yet. I’m a little freaked out by it and am afraid I’ll scar myself for life, but DH said he’d help me work it out. Since it’s 8:00 am and he’s already left for work, here they are brulee’d under the broiler. Yummy, but way too sweet to eat the whole thing before 8:00 am.

I made a half batch (yes I used 1.5 egg yolks) and made 3 ramekins. I followed an idea from Dorie’s Playing Around cooks notes and made espresso brulees, but didn’t feel like cheesecloth, beans and straining, (oh my) and following the recipe to the letter, so I added a small palmful – maybe about 2 tablespoons – of instant espresso powder to the cream mixture before whisking into the egg mixture. Works for me.

This was a good recipe and the caramelized sugar was crunchy and had nice texture. If I make this again, next time I’ll use less sugar in the custard. I can’t be sure if the added sweetness was because I messed with the recipe and cut it in half, or if this is the way it was intended. The espresso powder really adds an interesting flavor that lingers on the tongue.

Side note: Remind me to test the temperature of my oven and then see if I need to (or if I can) recalibrate it. I think it’s off, as this recipe took longer than I think it should have to cook, just like the Dimply Plum Cake.

Thanks to Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake for choosing this recipe. To see what all the other TWDers did with this recipe, check out the blogroll here. If you'd like to try making Crème Brulee for yourself, you can find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours.

TWD: Dimply Plum Cake

For your consideration: Dimply Plum Cake from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 41, as part of the Tuesdays with Dorie baking clan.

I was initially inspired to make this plum cake based on a post by Smitten Kitchen and then when it popped up on the TWD "to-do" list I knew it was meant to be. This was super easy to make although it took wayyyy longer than 40 minutes to cook through. I wound up resetting the timer several times and had to cover the top with foil to prevent it from becoming too brown. I think overall it was in for an extra 25-30 minutes. No big deal there though.

My plums were of such a size and shape that I only fit 12 plums on mine, (the recipe called for 16) but that was plenty for full plummy, yummy effect.

I haven’t sliced into it yet, but the batter was really, really good! There’s a teacher birthday at school tomorrow and I’m bringing it for her celebration. I’ll report back on the flavor then.

Many thanks to Michelle of Bake-en for choosing this recipe. To see what all the other TWDers did with this Dimply Plum Cake, check out the blogroll here. If you'd like to try making either one of these recipes for yourself, you can find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours.

(Hey, you lookin' at me?)

2 Experiments: 1 Pass, 1 Fail (Part One: the Fail)

(preface) No Thank You Boy is also Science Boy, Engineer Boy, Lego Boy and Experiment Boy. He takes after his mother who loves chemistry, physics and all nature of scientifical things. We aren’t afraid to try new things to see if they will work and learn cool new stuff. This insight will become relevant momentarily.

(Chapter One)
While I’m moving the container housing the TWD Whopper Drop Boomerang I say to myself, “Self! Hey, here’s a great idea! Why don’t you use this big hunk of whopper drops to make Cake Balls? I saw those Cake Balls and they looked like a fantastic idea! Using these will be awesome! The kids will love it! You will love it! You can post it on your blog! Yay!” So with the highest of hopes I went and found Bakerella’s Cake Balls recipe. Ingredients: cake (check), frosting (check), chocolate bark (check), little sticks (check), food coloring (check).

So I chop up the whopper dropper boomerang into whopper dropper chunks and put them in a bowl. Checking my stash of pantry fodder I find a can of Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting and mix it in. Note to self: Duncan Hines Canned Cream Cheese Frosting SUCKS BIG TIME. DO NOT EVER, EVER, EVER BUY IT AGAIN. You will convulse into violent, wrenching dry heaves at the merest suggestion of it.

What I am now looking at in the bowl will be lovingly (and most accurately) described later by my three children. For now, I take this very sticky cat yack and try rolling it into balls. Right. Not gonna happen. So I blop them onto the cookie sheet in ballish, clumpie, ah, blops and throw it into the freezer in hopes of firming them up enough to make proper balls later.

Now at this point I’m thinking, “This tastes like shit and looks even worse, but in the name of SCIENCE! I will keep going and maybe at least master the technique of creating cake balls so that this won’t be a total loss.” Pressing onward, I melt the chocolate bark. I chose white bark to be able to test out a food coloring idea I have. I used the real stuff food coloring. I used too much real stuff food coloring. I wound up with fluorescent yellow bark. Scary fluorescent yellow bark. SCIENCE!! (the technique, focus on the technique!)

I keep going. I take the blop balls out of the freezer and try to make ROUND blop balls out of them. (Do I really need to touch every one of these at this point?) SCIENCE!!! The Little One comes up and immediately recoils at the sight of the tray of cat yack blops. (Hey honey, wanna help me stick sticks into these? EEEEEyeH! WHAT ARE THEY?!) Holding his nose, he gingerly helps me stick the sticks in. Now we’re ready for the dee-licious candy bark coating. I try dunking one of the cake blops into the bark but it’s so thick that it won’t dip properly. (For the record, I am really good at making real chocolate dipped strawberries, apricots and other things. People clamor for my dipped treats. They do. Really. Pinkie swear.)

Hmm. Thick bark. I make my dipping chocolate ah, dippier by adding a little shortening, maybe that will help here. Alas, but no. No, it won’t. In fact it will make it much, much worse and turn the “dip” into a thick unspreadable concrete-like paste. Two steps backwards. Great. Remember: SCIENCE!!!!
What if I add oil? No!
More heat? No!!
Water? (I’m way past even considering “edible” at this point and I’m into full Science Girl Mode trying to see what happens if I do This?)

I finally got out the camera realizing that I needed to document this technicolor nightmare.

Oh, water made it spreadable allright.


The big kids come in. “AAAAAHHHHH!!!! WHAT IS THAT????? Chicken balls!? Tuna balls!? Cat Throw-Up Balls!? Barf Balls!? You’re not that far off, kids.

I present Exhibit A:

1. Nekkid cake blop
2. Cake blop dipped in thick bark
3. Cake blop schmeared with paste-like bark
4. Cake blop dipped in runny 3-Mile Island nuclear reactor meltdown bark

The Messy One (who’ll try almost anything once), bravely took a bite of specimen #2 – cake blop dipped in thick bark. It didn’t even make it to the molars. He took a bite and then went running into the bathroom and let it just fall out of his mouth into the toilet. Blop. True spitting would have had to involve additional tongue contact.

Bill Nye has left the building, folks. The whole mess went right into the trash, and not just in, but out. Wrapped, bagged, tagged and kicked to the curb. I bet even the raccoons won’t mess with it and eat them. If they do, I’ll bet we’ll see them glowing in the forest like little woodland creature nightlights. Or find nuggets of neon ‘coon poo dotting the countryside.

I turn to you, my fabulous foodie friends for help. I implore you - where did I go astray? When did I cross over to the Twilight Zone where my vision of ethereal cake balls became effluvial cat yack blops? Was it the crappy frosting? (I confess I may have added too much to the boomerang chunks in the first place.) What about the bark? (yes, I nuked it.) I need brand names of ingredients, people! I need manufacturers! I need answers! I need… I need a quiet moment to myself.

This however was not to be, for you see, Science Boy had spotted the food coloring…..

TWD: Granola Grabbers rewind

I’m doing a rewind as I don’t have THAT much chocolate (or cash!) in the house at the moment to make the $$ Chocolate Chunkers, page 70, that the rest of the TWDers are making this week.

For your consideration: Granola Grabbers from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 82, featured back on August 19, 2008 on Tuesdays with Dorie.

I’m generally not really crazy about raisins in cookies, therefore I swapped out just a sprinkling of chocolate chips for the raisins in this recipe. I also only made a half batch since I am a little cookied out as of late and can easily dispose of 2 ½ dozen in places other than my thighs or butt.

Surprisingly, these came together pretty easily as I was wondering while reading the recipe – what holds these things together? (there’s almost no flour.) Yup, butter and sugar. And an egg.Yes I did it again. Stupid stupid stupid.

I scooped out 2 trays and popped them in the oven. To the remaining dough I added some cinnamon to change it up a little. Both ways are good. Like the other TWD cookies I’ve made thus far, these are not so wonderful straight out of the oven. They need to rest a little and are best warm or cool. I was expecting a holy moly granola-y wheat germy flavor, but that’s not the case. They taste like regular cookies and are pretty good at the right temperature. I liked these but they aren’t anything that I absolutely NEED to make ever again, unless it’s to use up the monster jar of wheat germ I bought to make this recipe. Any thoughts on what to do with that???

Thanks to Michelle of Bad Girl Baking for choosing this recipe. To see what all the other TWDers did with these Granola Grabbers OR this week’s selection, Chocolate Chunkers, check out the blogroll here. If you'd like to try making either one of these recipes for yourself, you can find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours.

A Chocolatini for Susan

Susan over at Sticky, Gooey, Creamy Chewy is celebrating her 1 Year Blogiversary on Wednesday the 17th! She's throwing a virtual cocktail party and I'm bringing the Chocolatinis. Smooth, sweet and creamy these certainly go with everything she's been dishing out on her blog.

Congratulations Susan! Thanks for all the great recipes and fun. Cheers and here's to many more!

Chocolatini

Serves 4 -6

Ingredients:

3/4 cup half-and-half or light cream

8 ounces chocolate liqueur

2 ounces vodka

premium cocoa powder for dusting rim of glass

Directions:
Wet rims of four to six chilled martini glasses and dip into cocoa powder. Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice; shake vigorously. Strain into glasses and enjoy responsibly.

Plum Galette (cheater's version)

I have several yummy plums that I was going to make something with, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was. So before they disintegrated I decided to make a plum galette that was inspired by the TWD recipe floating around the blogosphere. It was from before I joined the group so I didn’t officially make it. It’s not official now either in the strictest sense as I am (YES!) using up more stuff out of my treasure trove of a freezer. Pre-made pie crust - check - scratch one of those off the list.

This was so simple to put together and it was so delicious. I need to remember this one as a pull-it-out-of-my, um, sleeve for a fast but impressive dessert. I used two plums and apple butter for the jam portion of the program. The plums and the apple butter were fantastic together! I'm glad I only made a small one as I would have felt compelled to eat it all.

Summer Fruit Galette

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours
Makes one small galette

Ingredients:
Good For Almost Everything Pie Dough (or a single crust, chilled or premade crust)
2-3 tablespoons jam or marmalade (I used apple butter)
2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
Fresh summer fruit: about 10 apricots, 8-10 nectarines, 8 ripe but firm peaches, 8-10 firm plums or 2 stalks rhubarb (I used 2 plums and cut them up into thin slices)
Decorating (coarse) or granulated sugar, for dusting

For the Custard
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 scant cup sugar
1 large egg
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat to oven to 425 degrees F. Unroll one premade pie crust. With the back of a spoon or a small offset spatula, spread some of the jam in the center- how much will depend of the jam flavor you want. Sprinkle over the crumbs, adding a little more than 2 tablespoons if you think you’ve got particularly juicy fruit.

Arrange the fruit on the dough, cut side down if using stone fruits, then gently lift the unfilled border of dough up and onto the filling.

As you lift the dough and place it on the filling, it will pleat. Brush the dough very lightly with a little water, then sprinkle it with a teaspoon or two of sugar. Bake galette for 25 minutes, or until the crust is brown and the fruit is soft.

Meanwhile, make the custard. Whisk together the melted butter, sugar, egg and vanilla in a bowl; set aside until needed. Remove the baking sheet from the oven (leave the oven on), and carefully pour the custard around the fruit. Depending on how much juice has accumulated and how much space you have between the fruit, you may not be able to pour all the custard into the galette, but even 2 tablespoons can give the right effect. Pour in as much custard as you can, then carefully return the pan to the oven. Bake for another 12 to 15 minutes, or until the custard is set- it shouldn’t jiggle when you gently shake the pan.

Cool the galette on the baking sheet on a rack for 10 minutes.Very carefully slide a small baking sheet or cake lifter under the galette and slip the galette onto a rack to cool. The galette can be served when it is just warm or when it has reached room temperature. Dust with confectioners sugar just before serving.

TWD: A Whopper of a Cookie

For your consideration: Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 85, featured this week on Tuesdays with Dorrie.

These were interesting cookies. I had several “Aha!” moments while making them

1. Aha! Ovaltine original is not the same as malted milk powder – it has “sugar” listed as the first of many ingredients. Nestle/Carnation’s Malted Milk has “wheat flour and malted barley extracts” as the first ingredient(s).

2. Aha! My countertops are not level.

3. Cool... Mt. Malted Milk.

4. Aha! I adore my sideswipe paddle more and more every time I use it.

5. must. use. up. these. stupid. chips. (no, I just can’t just throw them away, that would be wasteful.)

6. dough! (DOH!) or is it batter?

7. yee ha! scooper’s back in the saddle again.

8. I’m ready for my close-up now, Mr. DeMille.

9. A Whopper of a Whopper Cookie boomerang. Aha! Shoulda used wax paper in between for storing.

Despite the big hunk o’ cookie later, these were good. I did peel the pretty ones off the top and share them with school. Remember – they love treats!

Thanks to Rachel of Confessions of a Tangerine Tart for choosing this recipe. To see what all the other TWDers did with these whopper drops, check out the blogroll here. If you'd like to try making the Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops for yourself, you can find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Key Lime Pie and a Limeaid Flashback

There are more than a few oddball ingredients lurking about my kitchen pantry and freezer that I really need to use up. I decided that I was sick of rearranging the pre-made graham cracker crust from here to there and then balancing it on top of this then that and why did I ever buy this thing but I can't just throw it away (you get the drift) as well as a lonely can of limeaid that was tucked into a cubby of the freezer door shelf.

Flashback: Limeaid.... About four years ago, when the Big Ones were 5, we had a playdate with a kid from school. We were brand new to each other, and were in the initial "getting to know you" stage. He came over for the first time and my guys and he were all playing fine, but maybe getting a little more wound up than I'm used to. There's a lull in the action (you know when it gets really quiet, that's not a good sign) so I go to into the kitchen to investigate. My kids are standing looking at him, mouths agape, frozen with horror and disbelief. This kid went into my freezer, rummaged around and then way up on the top shelf, found himself a (lonely) can of limeaid. He then proceeded to go through my cabinets, found a pitcher, opened the limeaid using a pair of pliers from the junk drawer(!) pulled up a chair to the sink (because he couldn't reach the water) and was in the process of making himself a cool refreshing drink. At age 5. My kids weren't even supposed to pour their own milk at that point much less rifle through a hostesses serveware and fix up a cold one! Obviously, years later this has still made an impression. That child will go places one day, mark my word.

Back to the Land of Misfit Ingredients:
So, there's this pie crust and this limeaid and they walk into a bar... oops, wrong story. So I have two things that I know I can combine and get rid of use to the delight of my family.

I grabbed this recipe from Real Simple magazine (love Real Simple, maybe because I am sometimes) and two things bite the dust. (Yes, I know you’re wondering; after the boy wonder knocked back his frosty beverage, I bought more because, well, that’s just what I do). The pie was a little softer than I would have liked, but I think that if I had beat it longer than “fluffy soft peaks” and into “stiff peaks” that it would have been a little more firm and less jiggly, or froze it a little before serving. Messy Boy who {{hearts}} pie, (and Key lime pie even more) gave it 2 thumbs up.

Easy Key Lime Pie
From Real Simple Magazine, June 2008

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 6-ounce can frozen limeade concentrate (not thawed)
1 cup heavy cream
1 6-ounce graham cracker piecrust
Zest of 1 lime

Place the condensed milk, limeade concentrate, and cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Beat until fluffy and soft peaks form. (whip it, whip it good)

Pour the filling into the piecrust and smooth the top.

Refrigerate until chilled and loosely set, at least 4 hours (and up to overnight). (but possibly pop into freezer shortly before serving)

Sprinkle the pie with the zest before serving.

Yield: Makes 6 servings