Black Forest Bouche de Noel

I wanted to make a traditional Buche de Noel last year, inspired by this incredible cake by Sprinkle Bakes, and I used her recipe for the Swiss roll. I never got to it last year, but I made my first yule log this year with black forest flavors. I think it turned out wonderfully, with a perfect tight spiral and fantastic meringue mushrooms. I want to improve upon the cherry flavor, which I think would have been amplified had I used kirsch. I opted not to use kirsch because of children wanting to eat the cake.

It was impressive enough that my son has now requested this as his birthday cake for next year ... we'll see. He said the same thing about the pumpkin churro cake I made, so I'm on a roll.

There's lots of steps, but the meringues can be made and stored for several days, which helps a lot.

Black Forest Bouche de Noel
Swiss Roll
4 eggs
3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
1 Tbsp. oil
2 Tbsp. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup (90 grams) flour
1/4 cup (25 grams) cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup (30 grams) powdered sugar
Whipped Cream
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1 cup salted butter
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3-5 Tbsp. heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla
Meringue Mushrooms
2 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
75 grams sugar
Cocoa powder for sprinkling

To Make the Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 15 x 10-inch jelly roll pan, and line with parchment paper.

Place eggs in a large bowl, and beat 5 minutes. With mixer running slowly, add sugar and oil, followed by buttermilk and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Slowly add the liquid ingredients. Mix until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth it evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back when pressed with fingers.

Sprinkle a tea towel with powdered sugar, and rub sugar into the towel with your hands. Immediately turn cake onto the sugar-covered towel. Peel off the parchment paper, and roll cake into the tea towel, beginning at the narrow end. Place rolled cake on a wire rack, seam-side down, and cool completely before filling it.

To Make the Whipped Cream
To prepare the whipped cream, place the sugar and cornstarch in a small pan. While stirring constantly, pour in 1/4 cup cream. Place pan over medium heat, and bring it to a boil while stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and cool completely. Meanwhile, place remaining cream in mixer bowl, and refrigerate.

Once the cornstarch and cream mixture has cooled, whisk the pure heavy cream on medium until tracks begin to show in the cream. With mixer still on, slowly add the cornstarch mixture, and continue whisking until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to assemble cake.

To Make the Cherries and Syrup
Drain the cherries, reserving the syrup. Simmer the syrup over medium heat until it is reduced to 1/3 cup. Remove from heat, and stir in kirsch and lemon juice.

Cut cherries in half, and set aside on paper towels to soak up some of the extra moisture.

To Make the Frosting
Beat the butter on high speed 3 to 5 minutes to incorporate plenty of air. Gradually add powdered sugar and cocoa ,and beat until smooth. Continue beating, while adding vanilla and then heavy cream until desired consistency is reached.

To Make the Meringue Mushrooms
Preheat oven to 225°F. Whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Then whisk in the sugar one tablespoon at a time until meringue is stiff and glossy. Transfer to a large piping bag with a large nozzle. Pipe 8 mounds 5 centimeters wide. Dip your finger in cold water, and gently smooth any peaks as these are the mushroom caps. Then pipe cones about 2 centimeters high for the stems. Sprinkle with cocoa powder to create a mushroom effect.

Bake 70 minutes, and then turn off the oven without opening the door. Cool completely in the oven, even overnight.

To assemble mushrooms, melt a small amount of chocolate in the microwave. Use that chocolate to adhere the stems to the caps. (I like to place mine in the refrigerator to set quickly.) You may need to shave off part of the stems to get them to fit well.

To Assemble Cake
Gently unroll cake. Use a pastry brush to spread the cherry syrup evenly across the cake, allowing it to absorb into the cake. Gently spread the whipped cream evenly on top of the cake, leaving about 1 inch on the far end of the cake roll, where it will be be last rolled (so all the filling doesn't ooze out). Sprinkle evenly with cherries. Carefully roll cake tightly, and place seam side down. Frost, and use a knife to create texture the long way to replicate a log. Decorate with mushrooms, and sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Keep refrigerated until one hour before serving. Slice carefully with a sharp knife, cleaning the knife between cuts for beautiful spiral slices. Serves approximately 16.

Skillet Lasagna

A recent issue of Eating Well had several simple recipes to re purpose meatballs into quick meals. I tried the skillet lasagna, which was ready in 30 minutes and pretty tasty. Here's the recipe with a few tweaks.

Skillet Lasagna
5-6 no-boil lasagna noodles
1 jar of pasta sauce
12 oz. frozen meatballs
8 oz. ricotta
6 oz. shredded Parmesan and/or mozzarella
Garlic salt, Italian seasoning and minced onion to taste
1/2 cup water

In a large skillet (not a cast-iron one), spread a layer of marinara sauce. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles, breaking if needed to mostly fit. Top with a layer of sauce, meatballs cut in half and dot with ricotta. Sprinkle with additional seasonings (garlic salt, Italian seasoning and minced onion). Layer remaining lasagna noodles, and top with sauce, meatballs cut in half and ricotta. Sprinkle with additional seasonings if desired, and then top with shredded Parmesan and/or mozzarella. Add half cup water to the pan, cover with a lid and simmer on low until noodles are soft, about 20-25 minutes. 

Double Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

These cookies are delicious. I've long appreciated the chocolate and mint combination, but in the past decade peanut butter and chocolate has always won with my taste buds. But my son is in love with mint and chocolate, so these cookies from SprinkleBakes caught my eye. I added them to my Christmas cookie list and made a double batch.

Then I proceeded to justify not adding them to all my cookie trays because I didn't want everything else on the platter to be overwhelmed by mint flavor. If I'm being honest, I was looking for reasons to keep these cookies stashed in my garage (which is the Wisconsin winter standard storage spot to keep things fresh). I made them a week ago, and today my son is finally getting his first whole cookie.

These are amazing when they're warm and gooey, just like any good chocolate chip cookie. But they hold up very well, and I'll continue to validate that likely every day until they're gone. They still are chewy in the middle, almost with a brownie-like texture.

I will absolutely make these again.

Double Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups mint and chocolate baking chips, divided

Beat butter and sugar on medium high until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well, and then add the vanilla.

Combine the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, mixing only until well combined. Stir in 2 cups of chocolate and mint chips.

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes to make it less sticky. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F, and line baking sheets with silipats or parchment paper.

Shape the dough into 2-inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake 5 minutes, and remove from the oven. Press a few chips into the top of each cookie. (This just makes them pretty. You could skip this step and mix all the chips into the cookies if you wanted.) Bake 5 to 6 minutes more. Remove from the oven, and let cool on the sheets at least 5 minutes before carefully transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Note: I couldn't find a mix of mint and chocolate baking chips, so I bought separate bags, which worked perfectly for the double batch. Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Pumpkin Churro Cake

I made this delicious pumpkin cake for Thanksgiving. I did it because I finally had the realization the only reason I eat pumpkin pie really is for the cool whip, so I wanted a dessert I could embrace. It got rave reviews. My 8-year-old son described it as my most delicious cake and stated he wanted this cake for his birthday next year. (We'll see if that holds true in 9 months, but still ...)

And then apparently I closed the tab with this recipe on my phone before I blogged it. Fortunately, I remembered I found it on one of the blogs I frequent, so a few quick Google searches retrieved the recipe before it was lost as one of thousands of pumpkin cake recipes online. Thanks to Confessions of a Cookbook Queen for making my Thanksgiving dinner better.

Pumpkin Churro Cake
3 cups canned pumpkin
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Churro Coating
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
Frosting
2 sticks butter, room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
3 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
6 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter, and flour three 8- or 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper, and set aside.

Using a mixer, combine pumpkin, sugar, oil and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Divide the batter evenly among the three pans, and bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes, and then remove from pans to cool completely on wire racks. Once cakes are cool, wrap each cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. This will help the cakes become firm enough for the next step.

Once cakes are chilled and firm, combine cinnamon and sugar together on a large plate. Brush each cake with melted butter, and then dip in cinnamon sugar, coating the sides, tops and bottoms. Place cakes on individual plates while you work on others.

To make frosting, beat together butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add in powdered sugar on low speed until incorporated, and then add milk and vanilla. Gradually increase speed to medium high, and beat until desired consistency.

To assemble cake, place one cake on a plate or platter. Add a layer of frosting, ideally with a piping bag as the cinnamon-sugar coating makes the frosting slide on the cake. Top frosting with a second cake, and repeat the frosting layer. Top with the third cake, and use remaining frosting to decorate the top of the cake. Top with additional cinnamon sugar if desired.

Quick Asian Noodles

I swear I had a recipe for a quick dinner with ramen noodles on my blog, but I couldn't find it. Kind of like how how I can't find gochujang at the grocery store now when I swear I found it before ...

So when I searched out this recipe from Recipe Tin Eats I had to make sure I captured this recipe on my blog. This is a perfect weeknight dinner because it takes less than 30 minutes start to finish. It's flavorful and my entire family liked it. Heck, my youngest even ate a few tiny pieces of broccoli snuck in with his.

Quick Asian Noodles
2 packets ramen (discard seasoning)
1 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. sesame oil
2 garlic cloves
1/2 onion
7 oz. ground beef (we substituted some thinly sliced beef)
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup water (can use all water if needed)
Sauce
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
2 tsp. Hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp. mirin

Combine sauce ingredients, and set aside. (I only had soy sauce and mirin, so I added some szechaun sauce as well. It's pretty forgiving. Gochujang would be a great substitute if I could find it again at the grocery store.)

Heat oils in medium skillet over high heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook 2 minutes or until starting to soften. Add beef, and cook until it is light brown. Then add sauce. Cook 2 to 3 minutes until the beef is well caramelized.

Push the beef aside to make room for the noodles. Add the broth and water, and place the noodles in the water. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, and then flip. Cook another 1 to 2 minutes until softened.

Toss all the ingredients together to mix. Serves 4.

Note: We like to serve this in a bowl with steamed broccoli mixed in, topped with sesame seeds. 

Cranberry Orange Bread

One of my son's schools serves breakfast. Although he's usually up plenty early to eat at home, he wants to eat when all his classmates are eating the school breakfast, so we usually do a light snack at home and then school breakfast. The school breakfasts are pre-packaged combo packs that often contain either raisins or craisins, neither of which he'll eat. So we've ended up with a stockpile of individual packs of craisins in the snack bin because, let's face it, they're not the first thing grabbed when even the adults are hungry here.

I decided to convert those craisins into something much more desirable: cranberry orange bread. Although I typically use fresh/frozen cranberries for quick breads, this recipe from A Side of Sweet noted that it worked with dried cranberries. I just modified it slightly to moisten the cranberries more and use the ingredients I had on hand. Here's my tweaked version, which will be made every couple months when our stockpile gets large enough.

Cranberry Orange Bread
1/3 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
Zest of one large orange or 10 drops of food-safe orange essential oil
2/3 cup buttermilk
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine cranberries and orange juice, and let stand at least 15 minutes, preferably longer. This is to re-hydrate the cranberries slightly.

In a small bowl, stir together the orange juice, zest or oil, buttermilk, butter and egg. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Stir in the liquid ingredients (with the cranberries), mixing until just combined.

Pour mixture into a greased 9 x 5 loaf pan. Bake 25 minutes, and then reduce heat to 350°F. Bake an additional 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool completely. Makes 1 loaf.

Watermelon Sherbet

This recipe from Eating Well was created rather quickly after I found it, simply because it's summer. Watermelon is reasonably priced at the grocery store, and my kids love watermelon. I thought this would be a win for them, but it turns out that neither of them loves it.

Dave and I find it refreshing. It's authentic watermelon flavor that's not cloying but just sweet enough to taste relatively healthy. It definitely needs to stand at room temperature at least 5-10 minutes before scooping because it, like custard, is best not fully frozen.

Watermelon Sherbet
6 1/2 cups seedless watermelon, cubed
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt

Place watermelon on large baking sheet, and freeze until frozen. Puree frozen watermelon with the remaining ingredients, breaking into smaller batches if needed, until smooth. Transfer to a large container with a cover, and freeze until firm. Makes about 6 cups of sherbet.

Berry Lemonade Bars

This recipe came from the now defunct Cooking Light magazine. I made these for a treat when my family came to visit, and they were quite popular with the adults. The children opted for ice cream sandwiches, which left the last two bars as the perfect bedtime snack for Dave and me.

Berry Lemonade Bars
Crust
3 oz. all-purpose flour
1.5 oz. white whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. lemon zest
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, diced and chilled
2 Tbsp. canola oil
Filling
6 oz. fresh strawberries
1.5 oz. all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp. salt
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. To prepare crust, combine all ingredients except butter and oil in a food processor. Add butter and oil, and pulse until the mixture resembles sand. Pour the mixture into an 8-inch greased pan. Press down into bottom of pan, and bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, puree berries. Strain, and discard solids. Measure out 1/2 cup of fruit puree, and use that for the filling. In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients until combined. Pour onto the hot crust, and bake 23 minutes or just until set. Cool completely on a wire rack, and then chill at least 2 hours before slicing. Sprinkle with powdered sugar immediately before serving.

Makes 9 generous servings or 16 dainty ones.

Baked Chocolate Donuts

I decided to make donuts for my birthday weekend, using this baked recipe from a Cozy Kitchen. These are decadent, full of chocolate and so rich they beg for a glass of milk to get the chocolate off the roof of your mouth. They are best eaten with a fork since they tend to crumble.

Pretty much, if it's your birthday and you want cake for breakfast, these fit the bill.

Baked Chocolate Donuts
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
3 oz. chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. liquid cocoa extract or instant espresso powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. milk

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a donut pan with cooking spray, and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Then add the chocolate chips, melt and mix until smooth. Turn off the heat, and add cocoa extract or espresso powder, sugar and egg yolk. Lastly, whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir just until mixed. Fill each donut hole to the top, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool for two minutes, and then carefully transfer to a cooling rack.

To make the glaze, combine all the ingredients, whisking until smooth. Add more milk as needed to get desired consistency. Either dip the donuts or use a spoon to pour on the glaze. Top with sprinkles, grab a fork and get messy! Makes 6 donuts. 

Restaurant-Style Salsa

Do you know how addictive the salsa at Mexican restaurants can be? That flavor combination and texture with no big chunks makes you keep dipping and dipping. We usually can salsa every year, and we make pretty darn good salsas if I say so myself. But after I made this quick salsa from Brown Eyed Baker, my husband said he wasn't sure we ever needed to can salsa again.

This comes together quickly, makes use of canned tomatoes to ensure quality flavor no matter the season and has just a few cheap fresh ingredients that make it pop. Word of warning, though, for those with sensitive (a.k.a. sissy) palates ... you might not want to add any jalapenos to the mix.

Restaurant-Style Salsa
28 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained
2 10-oz. cans Rotel
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno (thinly sliced and seeds removed)
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cumin

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until combined and desired consistency. Makes about 6 cups of salsa. Ideally let stand for an hour before serving to allow the flavors to blend, but it's still tasty right away.

Sausage Pizza Egg Muffins

Eggs are a staple for me when I do rounds of Whole 30, so I eat them in a variety of ways. These pizza-inspired muffins from Paleo Running Momma are delicious and perfect for making ahead for a breakfast from the freezer.

Sausage Pizza Egg Muffins
3/4 lb. pork sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
Dash of crushed red pepper
2/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
2 tsp. Italian seasoning blend
1 tsp. onion powder
9 eggs
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease 12 muffin tins.

Cook the sausage with a dash of red pepper. Add the garlic when the sausage is nearly browned. Then add in tomatoes, and stir well. Remove from heat, and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs with the seasonings. Pour in the sausage mixture, and stir to combine. Divide mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups. Bake about 15 minutes or until the eggs are set, and muffins just begin to brown. Either serve immediately or freeze for future breakfasts. Makes 12 muffins.

Pizza Soup

I've had the Clean Eating with a Dirty Mind cookbook for a while now, but I haven't tried any of the recipes yet because I had too many other delicious, non-Paleo recipes to try. Anyways, I was looking for some inspiration for this round of Whole 30, and I tried this pizza soup.

This is delicious. It's loaded with vegetables and full of flavor. Since I'm doing Whole 30, I omitted the pepperoni and left the cheese off mine, although it looked so delicious on my husband's bowl. I did, however, top my soup with black olives to enhance the pizza toppings. This will be repeated already next week, but I doubt I'll photograph it then either.

Pizza Soup
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14-oz.) jars of pizza sauce (no sugar version for Whole 30)
1 (14-oz.) can diced tomatoes
4 mushrooms, sliced
1 bell pepper, diced
3 oz. sliced pepperoni
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup shredded cheese, optional

In a large skillet, brown the Italian sausage. Remove from skillet, and set aside. Add oil to the skillet, and cook the onion and garlic until fragrant and translucent.Add in sausage and all the ingredients except the cheese. Cover, and simmer 30 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender.

To serve, ladle soup into oven-safe bowls, and top with cheese. Broil a few minutes until the cheese is golden. Top with black olives and chopped green onions, if desired. Serves 4 to 6.

Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

These cookies from Crazy for Crust are perfect for an afternoon snack or even breakfast. Sweet enough to be called a cookie, yet healthy enough for any time of the day. Next time I'm making a double batch to freeze for crazy days in the future.

Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp. coconut oil

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 Tbsp. flax seed, ground

3/4 cup quick oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with a silipat. Using a mixer, combine peanut butter, brown sugar and oil until smooth. Stir in egg and vanilla. Mix in baking soda, flax seed, oats and flour. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop 2 Tbsp. of dough for each cookie, roll in a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand. They won't spread, so you can have them fairly close together. Bake 9 to 11 minutes. Cool completely on the cookie sheet, or they will crumble apart. Makes 12 cookies.

Crockpot Carnitas

I'm a big fan of crockpot meals, particularly with working more hours. I'm also a huge fan of cooking a meal once that gives us leftovers for fast dinners. This recipe does both. The meat is great on its own, on salads, in tacos or used in any enchilada, quesadilla, burrito.

Crockpot Carnitas
1 Tbsp. oregano
2 tsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 lbs. pork loin
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 tsp. salt
Juice of one lime
Juice of one orange
Additional oil for searing

Pat the tenderloin dry with paper towels. Rub the meat evenly with the oregano, cumin and olive oil. Place in slow cooker, and top with the remaining ingredients. Cover, and cook on high 4 to 6 hours or low for 6 to 8 hours.

Remove the tenderloin from the crockpot, reserving the juices, and shred the meat with two forks. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add enough carnitas to cover the surface without crowding, and ladle a little of the reserved juice into the pan. Cook until the juice evaporates and the bottom of the carnitas are crispy. Flip, and cook until the other side is browned. Remove from heat, and serve with a little more juice. Serves 6

Browned Butter Frosting

My original plan for cupcakes was chai cupcakes with browned butter frosting. Sounds delicious, right? Well, the chai cupcakes are now a crumbled mess sitting in the freezer because they tasted great but baked horribly. Rather than doming nicely, they spilled over the edges into the flattest of pancakes, which made the cupcakes impossible to remove from the tins.

*Sigh*

Good thing that this browned butter frosting from Gold Lining Girl goes wonderfully with chocolate cupcakes as well. I'll be honest, I didn't try this frosting because I'm doing another round of Whole 30 (Day 9 today!). But I sniffed the browned butter and managed not to drool in the frosting. I definitely want to make this again when I'm eating all the sugar.

Browned Butter Frosting
1 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
4-5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown. It will develop brown flecks, foam a lot and smell like a delicious nutty caramel.

Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla. Chill until firm but not hardened in the refrigerator. (If completely hardened, let come to room temperature for easiest frosting preparation.)

Beat the butter until creamy. Add in powdered sugar and heavy cream. Beat until light and fluffy. You can add more cream or sugar as needed to get the desired consistency. Makes about 4 cups of frosting.

Copycat Taco Bell Tacos

My oh my! These tacos from Foodie Crush are the best tacos I've ever had, aside from more authentic artisan tacos in the Virgin Islands. The extra time required to make these is well worth the end result. In fact, I think I need to make tacos again this weekend.

These are so good. You simply have to try them. And don't skip the process of baking the tacos for the blissful melted cheese. So good.

Copycat Taco Bell Tacos
1 lb. 85% lean ground beef
1/2 white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 cups tomato juice
1/4 cup yellow corn meal
12 taco shells
2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
Toppings as desired

Preheat oven to 400°F. Add the ground beef to a large skillet over medium high heat, and cook until browned, about 10 minutes, breaking into small pieces as it browns. (Think really small pieces like Taco Bell.) Add the onion and garlic, and saute until the beef is really nicely browned and the onion translucent. Add the seasonings, and cook for another 1-2 minutes, stirring often.

Stir in the tomato juice and cornmeal. Simmer 10-15 minutes until the juice has cooked down and cornmeal is softened, stirring occasionally. Add more tomato juice or water if the mixture clumps.

Place taco shells upright in a baking dish. Spoon about 1/3 cup taco meat in each shell, and top with cheese. Bake 5 to 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and shells begin to brown slightly. (You can put your shells on top of chopsticks if you like, to raise the shells up a bit and give the grease a place to drain.) Garnish with desired toppings. Makes about 12 tacos.

Braided Cream Cheese Danish

Perhaps Danish is the wrong word, but I disagree with Sprinkle Bake's original description of coffee cake. This is a sweet, yet not overly sweet, dough that comes together quickly despite the use of yeast. I made the original cream cheese filling, with an unwelcome addition, this time. I accidentally omitted the cup of sugar in the filling, so I have a rather bland cream cheese filling. I did add some jam on top of the cream cheese, so that helps somewhat, but I'm disappointed because it's just not as amazing as I anticipated due to my own error.

However, for how quickly the dough came together, and as forgiving as it was for me subbing 3 types of flour, I want to repeat this. (On a side note, how on earth did I run out of all-purpose flour?) I think a chocolate filling would be stunning. Heck, I bet the original filling would be pretty amazing if I remembered all the ingredients.

Update: I made it with the filling from this Chocolate Babka from Brown Eyed Baker. I doubled the filling to ensure I had enough for both loaves. It was heavenly.

Braided Cream Cheese Danish
Dough
1 cup milk
1/2 cup plus 1 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 eggs, room temperature
6 cups flour
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
Cream Cheese Filling
2 cups cream cheese
1 cup sugar (Note: This is important.)
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour
2 eggs
2 tsp. lemon extract
Egg Wash
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup pearl or coarse sugar

To make the dough, heat the milk, 1/2 cup sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar melts, and a few small bubbles appear at the edges of the pan. Remove from heat, and let stand at room temperature.

Dissolve the yeast and 1 tsp. sugar in a bowl with warm water (about 90°F). Let stand until bubbly, about 10 minutes.

Beat the eggs into the yeast, and then stir in the cooled milk (about 98°F). Add in the flour a little at a time, until the dough begins to become elastic. Add in the melted butter, and then stir in more flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Butter a large bowl with the remaining butter, and place dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise about 45 minutes until doubled.

Meanwhile, make the cream cheese filling by beating together all the ingredients. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet or two medium ones with parchment paper. Punch down the dough, and cut into two equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 10 x 15 rectangle. Spread half the filling lengthwise down the center third of each rectangle. Cut 1-inch strips from each side of the filling to the edges of the dough, angling all the cuts in the same direction. Fold the dough over the filling at each end, and then fold the strips over each other across the filling. (See the original blog post for a great description and visual.)

Carefully transfer each braid to the prepared sheet. Brush with beaten egg yolk, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Let them stand at room temperature until slightly puffy but not doubled, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Bake 15 to 25 minutes or until bread is golden brown and fragrant. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 2 large loaves.

Everything Cheese Straws

These simple breadsticks come together in a matter of minutes, thanks to puff pastry. They are best the first day, as leftovers become much crumblier. We made these, from Food Network Magazine, for a neighborhood gathering and would definitely repeat them.

Everything Cheese Straws
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
1 tsp. water
2 Tbsp. everything bagel seasoning (find recipe here)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll each sheet of puff pastry to an 11-inch square on a lightly floured surface. Beat egg with water, and brush onto each puff pastry. Sprinkle each sheet with half the bagel seasoning and cheese. Press gently to adhere, and then cut each sheet into 1/2-inch wide strips. Twist the ends of each strip in opposite directions to curl it.

Place strips on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and bake until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Makes approximately 30 breadsticks.