If you’re in the mood for a little sweet story and some cookies, check out my latest guest post on the Quirk Books website.
Quirk Guest Post: Plum & Raspberry Upside Down Cake
After finding this recipe, nothing will say summer to me like an upside down cake. I love pies, and I don’t like to take short cuts on crust (sorry, a flaky homemade crust will never go out of style), so these upside down cakes are the perfect alternative. You can find the recipe on Quirk Books.
Miette Cookbook: Pâte Sucrée, Pastry Cream, Lemon Curd, and Meringues
Part of improving skills is constantly trying new things. It’s pretty simple to substitute a nectarine for a peach, pair up blueberries and rhubarb, or grate a little ginger in the mix, but I want to push myself in baking outside of my comfort zone both technically and aesthetically. I picked up the Miette cookbook because it focused on the greatest ingredients– flour, butter, and sugar– without being filled with trends in regards to taste, presentation, or technique. After giving the book a couple look throughs, I decided I would attempt to bake every recipe in this book, since many take the same recipes and use them in different ways allowing me to practice multiple times. I hope to work on more delicate pastries and create an over all prettier product. As a bonus, I hope I can become more comfortable with my camera (which I’ve had for three+ years now…) and take more risks.
As you can see, my cat is very enthused by this experiment.
Since I had a four day weekend, this weekend I made Pâte Sucrée with two different fillings and meringues following the recipes from the book exactly.
Pâte Sucrée Tart Shell
A couple notes, for the sake of throughness: The proportions of how much dough each makes might be slightly off. I was in a pinch and could only find an 8 inch pan, but got more than two 8-inch pans worth of dough. It is possible I did not have the dough thick enough or large enough. I do not have a ruler in my apartment or those little rings to tell me how thick the dough is. This should be remedied before my next recipe.
There are several recipes on the internet for Pâte Sucrée, Lemon Curd, Pastry Cream, and Meringues on the internet if you want to make your own without purchasing the book. Now for the lovely pictures.
Pastry Cream and Fresh Fruit Tart
Lemon Tart
Rose Meringues with Red & Blue Food Coloring for 4th of July
Two Kinds of Cupcakes on Two Blogs
I’m very excited to announce I will be guest blogging for Quirk Books. It’s such a great honor and opportunity, I couldn’t pass it up. Last weekend, I made cupcakes for a friend’s birthday. I chose Vegan Chocolate Orange Ginger Cupcakes with Chocolate Orange Buttercream (featured on BSK) and Funfetti Cupcakes with Rosewater Buttercream (featured on Quirk).
I purchased some plates on clearance at a local kitchen store and I really love playing with the different colors. Below are some of my favorite shots that didn’t make either blog.
Now Available at Passero’s Gourmet Coffee!
Beginning in mid-April, I began baking for one of my favorite local coffee shops, Passero’s. Since its reopening a couple years ago, Passero’s has always focused on quality coffee, friendly service, and providing breakfast and lunch options for any kind of diet. I can definitely get behind that.
There are two Passero’s locations: Suburban Station (approx 17th and JFK) and the Wanamaker’s building (Juniper and Chestnut) in Philadelphia, PA. Though there are many great baked goods, I provide the vegan Jewish Apple Cake and the vegan muffin (flavors vary)
(Pictured above is the Walnut Date flavor)
To learn more about vegan baking, check out bigscarykitchen.com.
black bean and mushroom tortilla casserole
light. fresh. cheap. black bean and mushroom tortilla casserole.
black beans, two cans, $1.98
mushrooms, one carton, $3.50
tortillas, $2.50 for 30 (used 9), $.75
salsa, one jar, $2.49
mexican cheese, half a bag, $1.00
cilantro, 99 cents for a bunch
four huge servings– $2.68 a piece
damask shawl in madelinetosh iris
This shawl was made over the course of two weeks from very start to very finish. Made in one skein and a little of a second of madelinetosh sock in iris colorway. I found it was a little hard to capture the deep, yet bright purple of this shawl since I don’t run my photographs through finishing. The top picture captures it best.
strawberry shortcake from sky high cakes
Recipe and details on bigscarykitchen.
My friend Jo Anna and I created a little video to test a possible feature I want to add to my cooking blog– food episodes. I really love what fixing the white balance on my camera has done for me, but this is an example of why I need more dishware. The finished shortcake on a blue plate would have really made a difference in the colors. My favorite shot is the last one.
one.
Welcome to my portfolio where I plan to showcase my favorite pictures I’ve taken, random projects I’m working on such as redecorating my apartment or little written songs, and a few paragraphs of writing here or there. I also want to write longer pieces of what is going on in my life and Philadelphia, Colorado, places I visit in general.
