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Malted Waffles with Baked Brown Sugar Banana Ice Cream

May 6, 2012 By 44 Comments

Good Baked Sunday Morning everyone!  And I’m having waffles!

Okay.  So I didn’t really have these for breakfast this morning.  Ummm.  I had them for my dinner last night!  A great group of bakers and fanatics for the cookbook, Baked Explorations, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, have been making these Malted Waffles in some form or another.  Please check out Baked Sunday Mornings to see what my fellow baking explorers did with this recipe.

So in keeping with the theme of my blog, I decided to turn them into dessert waffles!  The batter was particularly light and airy.  And the waffles were more chewy and never crisped up quite the way I am used to.  Another reason why I decided to turn these into dessert waffles was because while the recipe called for malt powder, the only thing I could find in all of the markets in my area was Ovaltine!  And while these waffles were not very sweet at all, I just thought the flavor might be enhanced with some home made Baked Brown Sugar Banana and Walnut Ice Cream!  And to top it off…..a drizzle of Malted Chocolate Sauce.  Let me show you what the ice cream did for these waffles….. [Read more...]

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

March 11, 2012 By 68 Comments

It’s BAKED.  It’s SUNDAY.  It’s MORNING!

And it’s what I just had for breakfast!  Hey friends….I can justify anything!  But look at this!  Creamy peanut butter with strawberry jam and a crumbly oat topping all sitting pretty on a sweet, pastry crust!  Those ingredients speak breakfast to me!  Or lunch.  Or dessert.  Or a midnight snack!  Baked Sunday Mornings is a wonderful group of people who love Baked Explorations, a fabulous cookbook by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.   This week, we baked an upscale version of the classic peanut butter and jelly bar.

To me, this is almost like eating a fancy sandwich.  The peanut butter becomes almost mousse-like and is topped with your favorite jam (which for me, in PB & J’s is always strawberry!) and sandwiched between a sweet crust and a brown sugar and oatmeal crumble.  A little slice goes a very long way…it is pretty rich!  The recipe is a little bit time/labor intensive.  The dough is made, then chilled, then rolled and fitted to your baking dish, and chilled; and then blind baked while the peanut butter concoction is mixed and the oat topping is created.  This is where I’ve learned to be patient in baking and I don’t mind jumping through a lot of hoops to get a good product. 

The only stumbling point for me was when making the crust.  The ingredient list called for 1 large egg.  But in the directions for making the crust, it called for us to whisk the ‘eggs’.  And when I put everything in the food processor, my ingredients didn’t come together as I had expected.  It was pretty dry and not holding together to form a dough.  Which led me to question, did the authors mean for us to use 2 eggs?  So I added another and it worked out just fine.  Well worth the work and the wait.  All in all, on a scale of 1-5, I’ll give this 4 scrumptious whisks!

Please head over to Baked Sunday Mornings for this recipe; and to check out what my fellow baking buddies thought of this recipe!

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Chocolate Whoopie Pies

February 12, 2012 By 59 Comments

Whoopie!!!  It’s time again, for Baked Sunday Mornings!!!

Every other Sunday a great group of bakers dedicate themselves to baking from a wonderful book, Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.  It’s a fabulous book by the owners of Baked in NYC.  Many thanks to Sheri at Pork Cracklins and Bourbonnatrix of Bourbonnatrix Bakes for their wonderful efforts in leading Baked Sunday Mornings!  Though I came in late to this group, I’ve enjoyed getting to know my fellow bakers as we eventually bake our way through this entire book!

This Sunday, just in time for Valentine’s Day, we’re making whoopie!  Pies that is!  I love whoopie pies for the same reason that I love macarons and cupcakes.  You can play with the flavors of the cakes and fillings to suit any season or special occasion.  Here’s what I did with mine… [Read more...]

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Baked French Toast

December 4, 2011 By 62 Comments

Welcome to another beautiful Baked Sunday Mornings!

I’ve been feeling bad that I have missed a couple of weekends with this awesome group because I really enjoy meeting the new people who are just as fanatical about cooking from this wonderful cookbook as I am!  It’s a great book – Baked Explorations – by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.  Fortunately, for me, it was a pretty easy assignment and I welcomed this after a rather difficult week.  And there really is nothing more comforting to me than a warm, chewy, sweet french toast.  I kept pretty true to the original recipe, making just a few changes to accommodate my fridge and pantry.  Here are a few more pictures with the changes that I made…….. [Read more...]

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Chocolate Mint Thumbprints

October 23, 2011 By 34 Comments

Another delicious recipe from BAKED SUNDAY MORNINGS!  These cookies are not just for the holidays anymore.  A nice, light minty chocolate cookie filled with peppermint white chocolate.  I ran out of clear rolling sugar so I improvised with some colored sugar, non pareils and chocolate jimmies (that’s what we call chocolate sprinkles in New England!)  These are easy and fun to make.  Since the recipe calls for you to press your ‘thumbprint’ twice; once halfway through the baking!!!….I decided to use the rounded edge of the handle of one of my whisks.  And I really think you could adapt both the cookie and the filling to accommodate any occasion.  Leave out the minty flavor and use coffee or raspberry or rum; add the same flavors to the filling or use dark chocolate ganache or caramel!  The variations for flavors and decorations are endless!  On a scale of 1-5, I am giving this 4 whisks! [Read more...]

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Caramel Apple Cake

September 11, 2011 By 43 Comments

BAKED SUNDAY MORNINGS:  CARAMEL APPLE CAKE

 I am so glad to learn that the site for Baked Sunday Mornings has been updated.  I always want to feature recipes that, even if they are not my own, are still accessible to everyone.  Hopefully this recipe will be posted soon on the Baked Sunday Mornings site. It still can, however, be found in the book, Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

What initially seemed unusual to me about this cake is the frosting.  Because it contains flour!

Overall, this is really a good cake.  The cake itself is moist and flavorful and one that I am likely to use again, especially in cupcakes.  And the frosting is tasty.  But I don’t think it’s worth the cooking process to get rid of the flour taste, even if it was meant to thicken the frosting.  The recipe called for us to use the paddle attachment on our mixers for the frosting.  But I ended up swapping out for the whisk….just to get more air and volume.  I didn’t think the frosting had enough of a caramel flavor, yet I was reluctant to add more than the 1/3 cup it called for because I was afraid it would affect the texture of the buttercream.  So I decided to spread a thin layer of caramel on the cake layers before I frosted it.

All in all the cake is good and the frosting is lightly sweet.  But if I make this again, I will use my own recipe for caramel buttercream……and leave the flour for the cake batter!

On a scale of 1-5…..I’m giving this 4 whisks!

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Coffee Ice Cream

August 28, 2011 By 41 Comments

BAKED SUNDAY MORNINGS:  COFFEE ICE CREAM

So I joined a baking group called Baked Sunday Mornings.  The members of this group will post a featured recipe from the wonderful cookbook, Baked Explorations, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.  Ironically, the first baking assignment is Coffee Ice Cream!  Which is okay in my book because I happen to LOVE coffee ice cream.  And I needed to make this for another recipe I will be posting later in the week.

This coffee ice cream is different from the one I usually make because I don’t often use an egg base in my ice cream. I did like the creaminess of this ice cream.  But I should have listened to my gut regarding the amount of salt this recipe called for.  While I usually add a pinch or more, depending on the flavor I am creating….this recipe called for an entire teaspoon!!!  So while there is a nice coffee flavor (Kahlua is added!)….it almost took on a smoky, salted caramel quality. Unusual….but in a good way.  The recipe can be found soon on Baked Sunday Mornings.  I have been wanting to own this cookbook for some time.  And so I was very happy for the ‘excuse’ to have to purchase it!  This group will feature a new recipe to be posted every other Sunday.  And after perusing the many wonderful recipes from this book, I am definitely looking forward to many future posts! 
On a scale of 1-5, I will give this 3 whisks.

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