It's the Yeast I Can Do
When a Knead-To-Know Basis just isn't enough
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Chocolate chip pecan blondies 03.10.13
South by Southwest is the worst thing ever. Not only have I been too busy to bake for most of the last few months, but now it’s so bad it takes me a week to even post a shitty picture? Geez.
I ate a large chunk of this, took most of it to work, and found a reserved corner in my messenger bag the other morning at La Barbecue. That’ll do.
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
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Samoas bars, 02.19.13
For dessert tonight with Christian and Rita. They’re richer than the originals, I think, and with an obviously higher ratio of chocolate to cookie, but I’m not saying that’s a bad thing…
Via Crepes of Wrath
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Ginger lemon bars, 08.03.12
I’ve been dreaming of making these bars since I had them in a Central Market cooking class a year and change ago. They include two types of ginger — ground and crystallized, or candied — and I’d been halfheartedly checking spice aisles for the latter any time I found myself in a lemon mood. Finally, this weekend, the stars aligned: I’m heading out to The Farm, where I’ve never had a less-than-spectacular meal in my life, and Roz asked me to make a dessert, and one of my bosses at work explained that I only had to look as far as the bulk bins to find that elusive candied ginger. Thus, ginger lemon bars. (Yes, you usually hear those words in the opposite order, but I take a cue from Crayola’s red orange vs. orange red debate and put the more prominent flavor first. Seriously, it’ll clear sinuses.)
From Nick Malgieri’s Bake!, which was the first book I ever reviewed for the Chronicle conveniently located on Serious Eats in web form
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Peaches and cream bars, 06.24.12
Last summer when I was making peach things, I bought some way too late and they didn’t have time to ripen. A few weeks ago, when I made these the first time, I left them out on the counter for a few days and they got close enough. This time, I needed them to ripen a little faster, so I tossed them in a paper bag. To give me the third of the Goldilocks trifecta, those first seven peaches got thrown out because they overripened. I bought seven more, now underripe because it was far too late in the game, and then proceeded to dump the entire bowl of sliced peaches on my floor, wall, baseboards, refrigerator, cabinets, and feet. Seven more down.
But even after all of that, these are delicious. They’re easier to cut if they have time in the fridge first, but dropping them warm into cupcake liners, I felt like I was nose-deep in a Pop Tart factory.
Adapted slightly from Crepes of Wrath
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Cherry brown butter bars, 06.24.12
3/4. These are one of my all-time favorite things to make because of the way they make my house smell. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I want to brown butter 24/7. I lost the first bunch of cherries I bought to my ultrahumid home, but I think I wound up with a better selection of sweet ones on the second round anyway.
From Smitten Kitchen
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Butterscotch blondies, 06.23.12
When Katherine first approached me about baking for this thing, she mentioned that Annie probably had chocolate covered with the cake and asked what else I might consider making, or if there was anything I’d brought to the office that Brenner particularly enjoyed. I said:
I can’t remember any one particular thing that he’s gushed over more than the others, but my cheat sheet of favorite and least favorite dessert flavors of co-workers (doesn’t everyone keep one of those in the top desk drawer?) suggests butterscotch, so perhaps I’ll incorporate that somehow.
And here we are.
From Hershey’s
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Peaches and cream bars, 06.07.12
Until someone makes me a produce calendar, I will always have to consult other blogs to see when they start raving about certain fruits being in season. (Or maybe I should just start eating more produce? Nah…) But you can’t live in Central Texas without knowing when peaches are in season, and I couldn’t very well pass up a special on local ones at the grocery store last week; I learned my lesson the first time with peaches that you just have to buy them shy of ripe and wait a couple days. No telling yet how these turned out, as they’re going on a road trip with me this weekend… Will report back.
From Crepes of Wrath
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Brewer’s blondies, 06.03.12
My mom left Whoppers at my house when she came through town the other night, and I think we all know those shouldn’t be left in my sight for long. So I threw them in these blondies along with cashews, chocolate chips, and some malted milk powder, and got a sweet-and-salty midnight snack instead, perfect for people who hauled heavy things for me in the move.
From Crepes of Wrath
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Homemade Twix bars, 07.20.11
It’s Annette’s birthday, and when I asked what she might want, she mentioned salt, chocolate, and caramel in one breath, so this seemed like a no-brainer. Thus concluded the easy portion of this endeavor. Regular readers/droolers might recall I made this once before, but with my friend Celeste, and it turns out those extra two hands are kind of important. So note to my future self, who has no doubt forgotten the spilled flour on the floor, the blackened caramel on the stovetop, and the scorched chocolate smell lingering in my nostrils: I know it *says* medium saucepan, but humor me; use a large one. At least that way when your left hand is holding the candy thermometer, your right hand is stirring and scraping constantly, your right elbow is keeping the saucepan on the burner, and the caramel starts to boil, it’ll be two inches from the lip of the saucepan and the whole molten mess will be that much less likely to pop and bubble tiny flecks of 215° caramel onto your arms (and leg). Yeah.
From Crepes of Wrath
