Monkey Monday - School Shopping

Jason and Jakob did some school shopping this weekend. Jason will be leaving for NTC (training) before Jakob starts school....so he and Jakob had some bonding time getting all he needed for school. Way to go Daddy! You did good!

Take Care,
Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

Sundae Sunday

Chocolate is my favourite food in the whole wide world. I would take chocolate to any deserted island any time! But after chocolate, when it comes to ice cream comes CARAMEL. I love it....the luscious richness of it and that sweetness gets me every time.

Oh - did I mention that today is National Ice Cream day? So I made some ice cream to go with the salted caramel sauce I made. I still don't have an ice cream maker so I made it the old fashioned way like I did here....

Today I made David Lebovitz's Philly Style Vanilla Ice Cream. I had heard good things about it via Twitter....so I gave it a whirl. It is delicious. I love all the little specks of vanilla running through it....it's awesome. A great way to use a vanilla bean! Can you see those specks?

Salted Caramel Sauce

I used Dorie Greenspan's recipe and added some fleur de sel....

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp water

1 tbsp light corn syrup

3/4 heavy cream

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 - 2 tbsp fleur de sel

Put the sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir just to combine. Heat over medium-high heat, without stirring, until the caramel turns deep amber, 5 - 10 minutes, depending on the size of your saucepan and the intensity of the heat. As the sugar is caramelizing, wipe down any splatters on the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. To test the colour of the caramel, drop a bit on a white plate. Don't be timid about the colour - if it's too pale, it won't have much taste.

Lower the heat, stand back from the saucepan - because the caramel will bubble and spatter - and add the cream and butter. When the spatters are less vehement, stir to smooth and calm down the caramel. Remove the pan from the heat.

Pour the caramel into a heatproof jar and cool until it is slightly warm and still pourable before using, about 1 hour.

I added the salt after the cream and butter....I should have let it dissolve a little more...as I was pouring it out I had some salt sitting at the bottom of the pan.

This caramel sauce will keep in a covered container for about a week...if it lasts that long. The recipe says that it makes 1 cup - I ended up with more than 1 cup!

I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer....and eating lots of ice cream...especially today!

Take care,
Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

TWD - Brioche Tart!

I wasn't going to participate this week as I have developed quite a summer cold! I am all congested and icky feeling the past couple of days. But I forged on and twisted it up a bit. Instead of using plums like Dorie's recipe calls for I used diced apple and blueberries.

So since I am not feeling so great and anxious to take a hot bath and go to bed, all you are going to get from me this week is pictures! Sorry....but they are great pics, in my opinion!

Before going in the oven....

A little slice....

The complete tart! Look at those shriveled blueberries....all that juice is in the tart...mmmmm

Take Care,

Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

A Military Monkey Monday

My boys love to put on parts of Jason's uniform. Jakob puts on his jacket, boots, etc.... But the one thing that both the boys love to put on and wear is Jason's soft cap. Like he did here....

Pretty cute eh?

Take a moment to think about all those that serve and have served, and those we have lost. Thank a soldier.

Take care,
Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

Sundae Sunday

It's summer. It's hot in Georgia. Ice Cream always makes the heat so much more bearable. And what better way to eat ice cream than in a sundae?? We haven't been eating too much ice cream around here. We have always made it a special treat for all of us. When the boys get ice cream they always make such a big deal about it and ooohhh and awwww and there is always a "Thank You Mama" after eating it.
Alot of my blogging friends have been making their own ice cream and I have been drooling over their blogs lately! We don't own and ice cream maker. (boo hoo) And I recently made it without one, but I really really want one.

So for the rest of the summer I am planning on featuring a homemade ice cream and some kind of sundae topping. This week is store bought ice cream....I could have waited til next week to launch this idea, but I really really wanted to make some Hot Fudge Sauce! So we had Edy's French Vanilla in the freezer and went with that! Next week....who knows....leave me a comment and suggest an ice cream for me to make (I might have a new maker by then!!)


But in the meantime look at this Hot Fudge Sauce!


It is lush, rich, thick, shiny, and absolutely delicious! Thank you Dorie Greenspan!
I made her recipe from her book "Baking, From my home to yours".

Here is the recipe,
Courtesy of Dorie Greenspan

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter cut into pieces
6 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used choc chips!)
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, put the butter in the bowl, top with the chocolate and heat, stirring once or twice, until the ingredients are melted. Keep the heat very low - you don't want the mixture to get so hot that the butter and chocolate separate. Transfer the bowl to the counter when the mixture is smooth.

In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir together the cream, corn syrup, sugar and salt, then bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and remove the pan from the heat.

Pour about one quarter of the hot cream over the chocolate and, with a rubber spatula and starting in the center of the bowl, stir the two mixtures together in ever-widening concentric circles. When it is smooth, pour over the remainder of the cream in 2 additions, stirring gently until the sauce is shiny and smooth again.

Allow the sauce to cool for about 10 minutes.

Store the sauce in a tightly covered jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Warm it gently in the microwave to bring to pourable consistency.

Ok...I have to say that I will never by jarred hot fudge sauce again. Why? When in ten minutes you can have this?!?!? I'm hooked.

I have lots of sundae toppings in my head. Need to write them out so that I can get them out of my head and onto recipe cards. For next week I am thinking caramel...but caramel ice cream or sauce? hmmmmm.....

Hope everyone had a good weekend...and that you were able to end yours with a sundae too!

Take care,
Tania
Love Big, Bake Often

Fixation Friday is back!

It has been a very long time since I have posted a Fixation Friday post....sorry chocolate lovers! But it is back. Tonight I am featuring an all time fave of mine....Chocolate Chip Cookies. I am always on the search for a great chocolate chip cookie, isn't everyone? So awhile back I had seen How to Eat a Cupcake make Martha Stewart's Chocolate Chip Cookies....and so I decided (after much deliberation) to give them a try...

Look at that dough.....isn't it gorgeous...

I was shocked and dismayed when I started to add the flour and didn't have enough all purpose flour for the recipe! How does a baker run out of flour? By baking too much! So I had bread flour and self rising flour....decisions, decisions... I went with self rising. Not a good choice to get a good feel for these cookies. Instead of crisping up and being chewy like the recipe said they would...they puffed up a little. But I will say this...the flavour is great! They are great cookies. I will definitely make these again with only all purpose flour so I can get the chewiness that I love!

Here is the recipe. Thank you Martha Stewart for a darn good Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, I love it!

MAKES ABOUT 3 DOZEN

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted but­ter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon coarse salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips, or a combi­nation (about 12 ounces)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour and baking soda in a bowl. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs; mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Mix in flour mix­ture. Stir in chocolate chips.

2. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, ro­tating sheets halfway through until edges turn golden but centers are still soft, 10 to 12 minutes (14-16 for refrigerated cookies). Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored between layers ­of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.­

I waited too late in the day to get a great shot of the cookies before the sun went down. But I will take some tomorrow and share it with you all.

Make these...you wont be disappointed - and I can say that even though I used the wrong kind of flour! HA!

Take Care,

Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

Monkey Monday

Happy Belated 4th of July readers! I hope you all had a great holiday weekend. We were lucky enough to celebrate with some new friends at their house for a BBQ. I, of course, brought dessert....brownies, sugar cookies and s'mores on a stick. Here are a couple of pic of the boys enjoying their treats! Recipes and food pics to follow (hopefully later today)!

Take Care,

Tania

Love Big, Bake Often