No Bake Challenge 1: “Strawberry Fields Forever!!

Now, I don’t really like Rachael Ray, for a variety of reasons: her voice (which I know has gotten better, but before I would have rather sat through nails on a chalkboard), and just because she seems a bit frantic when she cooks…I watch cooking shows to be relaxed, but when I watch her I feel like I have an exam to study for! However, when I stumbled upon this super easy recipe for Individual No Bake Strawberry Cheesecakes, I had to give her some credit! Not only does in require a minimal amount of ingredients, most of which I already had, but it leaves a lot of room for flexibility and they were the perfect treat on a hot summer day!

The only thing I would caution about the recipe is that the end product isn’t exactly “cheesecakey”, or rather that at least in my case the mixture was still runny. I did incorporate a box of strawberry Jello, as one of the reviewers had suggested, and while it did make it thicker, it was still way too liquidy to have a cheesecake texture. So I left it in the fridge for a few hours too, and that did the trick! So, don’t expect it to be super solid at first! However, it was very tasty, and I loved being able to use the mini graham cracker crusts-too cute! I also used these cute little dessert dishes my mother bought at Pier 1, and sprinkled graham cracker crumbs on top. See?! So much room for your own touches!

Enjoy making these lovely, simple treats! I sure did!

Prepare for a Meltdown

Get ready!
Lu and I will be hosting a ten recipes series focusing on no bake recipes. With it lingering in the high 80's in PA and hitting the low 100's in good ole SC, no one wants to run their oven and heat up the house. (At least I don't, as we don't have AC!!) We'll be showcasing sweet treats that you can make while still beating the summer heat! The series will start in July so until then please feel free to share your favorite nobake treats with us!

Lu's Next Challenge

 So, Miss Lu, your next challenge is to make a cake or cupcake inspired by the flavors of a candy bar. And no, sprinkling snickers bits on top or inbetween layers doesn't count. Think about the flavors and actually make them into the dessert. Happy baking!

My Big Fat Greek...Baking Challenge!

Lu: Well look at this!! A lovely visit from my HotGlue culminated in one of our more difficult baking challenges, which was learning how to make baklava!
Rachel: Lu considered making baklava when I gave her the challenge to make something that begins with the letter b, I wanted to learn the skill and had amazing baklava on my first trip to Pittsburgh. So Lu found an easy recipe for us to follow and we each brought some ingredients to the table.
Lu:The recipe we followed was by Michael Symon and can be found here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-symon/baklava-recipe/index.html

Something to keep in mind when brushing the phyllo dough: make sure to keep the sheets moist! We did this by putting a damp towel on them, because if they dry up they tend to crumble easily. Also, the recipe calls for 4 sticks of butter, but we only used 3 and were just fine.

Rachel: Shelling the pisachios was annoying, but not hard and the rest of the recipe seemed to go fairly well. (Although, thats easy for me to say because Lu seemed to do most of the work). I loved that Raul thought the baklava was yummy and ate several pieces. I bought some home for Mike and he said that he wasn't the best he'd ever had (I think he had some in Europe) but that it was up there

Lu: Haha...that's one thing I learned from this recipe...always remember to read the ingredients in detail!! If I had noticed it said ground nuts we could have saved a bit of time! Nevertheless, it was still a lot of fun. And of course it was the best way to celebrate our reunion!!

Why is the RUM always gone!!

**Tip: Pick a good Rum! I used what I had,but I bet a Bacardi Rum would work best

My most recent baking challenge was to create cupcakes inspired by a drink, and to also decorate them the way the drink would be presented. This was a toughie because there were a billion fruity drink cupcakes I wanted to make (strawberry daquiri, pina colada)but alas...I'm functioning on the poor college student's budget. So I was lucky enough to stumble upon a really great cupcake recipe inspired by an equally wonderful drink that I had all the ingredients for! This drink is my wingman at the bar, the

first drink I order almost every time I go out, because it's a nice simple starter and always puts

me in a good mood=the Cuba Libre, also know as the Rum & Coke!

"Cuba Libre" means "Free Cuba" in Spanish, and I'm no history buff but I thought it was pretty neat that the origins of the drink are said to have come from during the Spanish-American War in...you guessed it...Cuba. Legend has it that a soldier ordered the drink for the first time and enjoyed it so much that they rallied together and toasted with the phrase "Por Cuba Libre!", which was the battle cry they used in their war for independence. The variation between the Carribbean Cuba Libre and the American Rum & Coke is that the Carribbean version usually always includes lime juice and lime, while in the US it's optional.

These cupcakes were a delight to make, and they disappeared so fast!

You can find the blog I found the recipe on here: http://www.coconutandlime.com/2007/01/cuba-libre-cupcakes.html

The only problem I encountered with these cupcakes: the dipping in the middle! I just don't know how to fix this! I've consulted baking websites who say it can be a variety of things: overmixing, undermixing, too much butter/heavy ingredient in the batter, opening the oven too early, the oven being too hot, etc...:( if anyone has any advice let me know!

The Cream Cheese Rum Chocolate Frosting was amazing! I didn't leave the cream cheese out long enough so it was lumpy at first, but a quick 10 secs in the microwave fixed that. Also, note the convenient Coca-Cola bowl ;)

And here are my baby Cuba Libre cupcakes!!!

Savoury Scones

Lu challenged me to make something that orginated somewhere fabulous. I've been missing Scotland and the carefree feeling I associate with my time there. I had every intention of making scones and was debating between lemon blueberry and chocolate cherry, when a recipe for bacon scones from Brown Eyed Baker landed in my inbox.

Here's the recipe:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
4 green onions, thinly sliced
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped into 1-inch pieces
3/4 to 1 1/2 cups buttermilk*
1 large egg
2 tsp. water

*I used lemon juice mixed with 2%milk instead of buttermilk

Cook the bacon. When it cools tear it into one inch pieces.

Mix the flour and baking powder and cut in the butter until the chunks aren't any bigger than peas.

Stir in the cheese, onions and bacon pieces.

Add the buttermilk until the dough sticks  to itself. Roll into a ball and put it on a floured surface. Roll the ball out until it is in a circle about 8 inches wide and (most importantly I think) 1/2 inch thick. My circle was about 12 inches wide but was 1/2 inch thick.

Cut into 8-10 wedges and coat with the eggwash made from the whisked egg and water.

Bake on parchment paper or a silicone mat for 15-22 minutes. Mine took 15 minutes. They should be lightly brown on top and not sticky in the middle.  I tested mine with a toothpick.

I think these were fantastic and I definitely want to make them again. I made them for us to have for a quick breakfast tomorrow (Easter) before driving to my sister in law's church but I ate 1.5 of them tonight!

They have a wonderful flavor and texture. I guess its the egg wash that gives them a the wonderful, yet slighty eggy taste? Whatever it is, it adds the perfect touch!

HOTGLUE: Hurry up and make your cupcakes chica! And let  me know when you've got another challenge for me!

Holy Cannoli!!

Less than 50 days until graduation, but with this workload I'd rather be anywhere else but here...somewhere warm, exotic, with good looking men and even better looking desserts! Rach, I bet you agree, so your next challenge is to make a treat that originates in any one of these wonderful, foreign places. Cannolis from Italy, Croissants from France, Baklava from Greece, Flan from Spain, Scones from Scotland! Anything from somewhere beautiful, so that we can live vicariously through our taste buds. Good luck!