It's the Yeast I Can Do

Coffee chocolate raspberry layer cake, 05.24.12

Happy birthday, penpal! I asked Em if I could bake for her while I was in Seattle, and she happily obliged. I’ve made this cake for a birthday before, but this time 1) I was using Seattle coffee, and 2) I had enough leftover batter to make six cupcakes, which were consumed almost immediately with ample servings of raspberry sorbet. (It’s OK; I walked it off in the hills of Sasquatch.)

From Smitten Kitchen

His and hers crepes, 05.19.12

Which is to say, his recipe, her stovework. Minor flipping issues forgotten about as soon as I took a bite of Nutella-slathered cinnamon crepe with a chunk of that coffee toffee in the middle. Unf.

From Ozzy

Coffee toffee, 05.18.12

I finally killed my candy thermometer, but aside from that, and the part where I had to drive an extra half hour for my saucepan, this went off without a hitch. File under “Win Friends and Influence People.”

From Smitten Kitchen

Chocolate chip cookies, 05.12.12

I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. Good news: The light in my new kitchen is incredible. Bad news: The oven in my new kitchen is currently off by about 50-60°F. I’m glad it’s damn near impossible to screw up chocolate chip cookies.

From Martha Stewart

End of an era, 04.22.12

If you’re wondering where your pseudoweekly food porn is, join the club. My guess is that it’s somewhere between the 20-odd boxes of books and the mountains of kitchen utensils I just packed.

No but seriously: It’s my last week here at the Treehouse, as I close tomorrow on a new place on the Eastside. I damn near talked myself out of moving for fear of having to break in a new kitchen (and I’m sure the cat that adopted me is none too pleased either, seeing as he sat vigil outside my door for two days after I explained the upcoming move). As you might have gathered by the fact that, even now, the kitchen is only half-packed and I close tomorrow, I’ve been putting this part off for a while. I swore to myself I could keep up the baking while I transition, but let’s be honest: This is going to get worse before it gets better.

I’ll miss the Treehouse tremendously — its warmth, its incredible natural light, the fact that I can reach everything in the kitchen without moving a foot — but it’s time for bigger, better things (counter space! more than one cabinet! doors!), and I’m looking forward to unveiling the new home base of The Yeast I Can Do very soon.

Bear with me, gang.

— Monica

Cocoa brownies, 04.14.12

Same old brownies, but this time doubled and commissioned for a birthday and delivered in the dark of night. Sneaky brownies! Bonus ice cream! Intrigue!

From Smitten Kitchen

Crêffles (bake date with Michelle in VA), 04.08.12

Crêpe batter + waffle iron = crêffles. Don’t you wish you’d thought of it? Don’t we wish this stroke of genius had not been because of the death of a crêpe pan? Batter by Michelle via her French family; waffling by yours truly. Fillings included sugar, butter, honey, lemon, Nutella, and quince jelly, and favorites were most definitely not picked.

Chocolate chip Nutella cheesecake bars, 04.03.12

Just read that again. Go ahead; I’ll wait. … Yeah, it’s what it sounds like. Made for dinner with boy + cousins, half of leftovers donated to Driskill co-workers.

From Bakers Royale