Holiday Sweets Update!

Went on a baking rampage this week! Here's a few choice pictures of a handful of goods I made, unfortunately with pretty terrible photo quality, I did the best with what I'm working with (HTC Rhyme...lol)! Enjoy :)

Salted caramel apple pie, everyone's favorite!

Peanut butter pie with dark chocolate ganache and pretzel graham cracker crust

Moist red velvet cake, chocolate ganache, and a solid 1.5" of cream cheese frosting rosettes

Sweet potato pie with toasted marshmallow meringue 

Baklava soaked in sweet honey syrup

More orders and more pictures to come soon! Eat your heart out.

Holiday sweets for sale!

The Holidays are wonderful, but they can also be stressful for many. It's difficult to manage careers, children, and hectic schedules during the busiest season of the year! The best way to keep your sanity is to eat desserts, lots and lots of desserts. I'm offering up delicious, homemade sweet treats to indulge yourselves in. From pies & tarts, to beautiful layer cakes, Christmas cookies, and decoratively packaged food gifts, let your appetite be the guide. Indulge yourself and your loved ones with tasty treats this holiday season!

All orders can be made through my email alexa.prendergast@hotmail.com and require 3 days prior notice :)

Pies - $15

Pumpkin
Flaky pastry leaves surrounding a warm spiced pumpkin filling

French Silk
Creamy chilled chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings

Pecan
Sweet and slightly salty pecan filling with or without chocolate chips

Chocolate Peanut Putter Pretzel
Pretzel and graham cracker crust filled with a smooth and creamy peanut butter mousse, topped with rich ganache and roasted peanuts

Salted Caramel Apple
Tart apples and salty caramel wrapped in a buttery crust, topped with crust or streusel

Sweet Potato Casserole
Warm spiced sweet potato filling with toasted marshmallow meringue

Tarts - $15

French Pear Almond
Poached pears in pastry shell, surrounded by an almond filling and topped with almond crumbs

Cakes

Sticky Toffee Pudding  - $30
Luscious date cake drenched in thick toffee sauce and rum whipped cream. 13x9 cake, Serves 12

Blackout  - $40
Rich triple layer chocolate cake with chocolate pudding filling, wrapped in chocolate buttercream and finished with a ganache drizzle and chocolatey crumbs. Serves 16 

Red Velvet  - $35
Three moist red velvet cake layers with chocolate ganache and sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting. Serves 16

Apple Spice  - $30
Moist double layer apple cake with warm spices and a salted caramel buttercream frosting. Serves 12

Cookies - $15/dozen

Triple Chocolate Almond Chunk
White and semisweet chocolate chips, almonds in chocolate cookie dough

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Pumpkin cookies rolled in sugars and spices

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip
Chewy delicious chocolate chip cookies, lightly salted

Peppermint Bark
Thin chocolate biscuit dunked in white chocolate and sprinkled with candy cane dust

Food Gifts

Cinnamon Crunch Braided Brioche Loaf  - $15
Buttery brioche wrapped in cinnamon sugar and pecans in a paper loaf pan and wrapped in cellophane and ribbon

Hot Cocoa in a Jar with Marshmallows  - $12
Hot cocoa mix  layered with chocolate chips in a decorative mason jar with homemade peppermint marshmallows and label attached

Brownie Batter Truffles  - $15/dozen
Decadent little bursts of rich chocolate truffle coated in chocolate and sprinkled with chocolate cookie dust. Packaged in treat boxes wrapped in ribbon

Apple Pie Bread  - $12
Apple and spice quick bread with cranberries and pecans and a streusel topping baked in a paper loaf pan and wrapped in cellophane and ribbon

Funfetti Cake with Strawberry Buttercream

  

I've known my best friend for fifteen whole years now! Not a waking moment of my childhood and teenage years were spent without her. Sadly we don't get to spend nearly as much time with each other now days, too busy trying to make that paper, get an edjimacation, deal with the shitty responsibilities of adulthood. But you can never be too busy for birthdays! Skipping out on a friend's birthday is a cardinal sin in girl code and is unforgivable. So in honor of little miss MILF is a homemade funfetti cake! Who's going to hate on funfetti? No one that's who.

Love ya Cass! <3

What you know about alfresco cake eating?

For the recipe, I used Sweetapolita's Funfetti layer cake with whipped vanilla frosting which can be found here. I followed both recipes to a T with the exception of adding fresh strawberry puree to the frosting along with a good sprinkling of salt (I like my frosting with a salty bite, it's amazing!). The puree was added in somewhat slowly during step 10 in the directions, as to not change the butter's whipped consistency.

Now devour with zero guilt.

Olive Oil Fantail Rolls

To be honest, I really am not in the mood to be writing some cheesy story about why I made these rolls. So I'm not going to. All anyone needs to know, or really cares about, is how they turned out. The verdict is that they were good, of course, because I'm a self proclaimed domestic goddess and I can fucking bake. Flaky, buttery, and extra fun because you can pull it apart piece by piece. The initial recipe needed a bit of tweaking so I made them again adding more butter, salt, herbs and loads of fontina cheese. So much better the second time. I didn't bother to take glamour shots of the second batch because I was probably on a time crunch and running around like a frazzled psycho, as usual. Super easy recipe but takes up about half your day with all the rising. They only keep for a day or two but are best hot and fresh out da oven. Who doesn't love to burn your mouth inhaling steamy, hot bread? Worth it!

All ingredients mixed together. Sooo easy!

Cute lil dough ball ready to nap

Risen until doubled in size, then punch that bitch down!

1/4 of dough rolled, oiled (or buttered!), and cut into 12 pieces

Stack pieces as well as you can and prop up with a rolling pin so that they don't fall and make you want to have a frustration breakdown

Cut into lil pieces. Mine kept falling but it truly doesn't really matter, stuff them in the tins anyways

Attempt to "fan" out the pieces, mine were jammed in to tight there wasn't much room

Only picture of the 2nd cheesy, delicious batch I managed to take. Cheeeeez

Glam shot, nestled ever so gently on a kitchen towel. Flaky, buttery, salty, oniony, pull-apart heaven in my mouth.

Olive Oil Fantail Rolls: Recipe adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients:
Makes 2 dozen

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (warm to the touch, but not hot)
2 tablespoons sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
3 cups bread flour
3 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cup yogurt
1 cup chives, finely chopped
1 cup olive oil, divided (or butter)

Herbed Cheesy variation filling:

2 cups grated fontina cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped

*Note: Recipe was originally doubled, makes A LOT of rolls. Good for the holidays! (or freezer leftovers)

Directions:

1. Whisk together the yeast, warm water, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let it stand until the mixture looks foamy and bubbled up on top — about 5 minutes. (If the mixture doesn't foam, start over with new yeast.)
2.  Stir the flour, salt, yogurt, chives, and 3/4 cup olive oil into the yeast mixture with a wooden spoon or the stand mixer paddle just until a soft dough forms. Switch to the dough hook and knead until the dough is smooth (or turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, the perfect stress reliever). The dough will still look and feel slightly shaggy, from the oil; it won't have the perfectly smooth, taut feel of a more traditional yeast dough.
3.  Form dough into a ball and coat lightly with olive oil. Turn it over in the bowl and cover the bowl with a towel. Let rise until doubled — 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
4. Oil or butter muffin tins and set aside.
5. Punch down dough, turn out onto a floured board, and cut into four equal pieces with a sharp bench scraper or knife. Put three pieces back into the bowl and keep covered with a towel while you roll out one piece of dough into a large, thin rectangle (slightly short of 12x18 inches). 
6. Brush dough lightly with olive oil or melted butter and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. ***For Herbed Cheesy rolls: Mix together fontina, parmesan, garlic, and parsley in a small bowl. Sprinkle cheese mixture over dough as well. Pat down slightly to avoid fallout.
7. Cut the dough crossways into 12 equal strips. Stack the strips, oiled side up, into a tall stack. (It is helpful to prop the stack against the rolling pin while doing this!) Cut the stack into 6 pieces.
8.  Turn each piece on its side, so the cut layers face up, and place in the prepared muffin tins. Separate the layers slightly so they fan outward (somewhat difficult with so many layers) Repeat with the rest of the dough.
9.  Cover the muffin tins with a kitchen towel and let the rolls rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled and dough fills cups, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
10.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the rolls until barely golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Once out of the oven brush rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
11. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

How to win over a parent - Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

A couple weeks ago I spent an amazing mini vacation in Maryland visiting the guy I've been dating. Long story short he moved back to his hometown from California, and me being totally, creepily obsessed with him of course I had to fly out for a visit. Before coming out I knew I had to win his mom over by baking her into oblivion, surrounding her with so many delicious baked goods she'd have no choice but to love me. Unfortunately we did so much running around I rarely had time to make anything and show off the way I had envisioned. There was one night I got spoiled rotten with an amazing meal so I decided to whip up something for dessert as collateral. After much food blog scouring I decided on a strawberry rhubarb pie mainly because strawberries are universally amazing, I've never had rhubarb, and everyone loves pie. It's always good to expand your horizons a little bit and rhubarb did that for me! To my surprise it added the perfect touch of sourness that I love in almost everything.

When making the pie crust I opted for the lazy ass food processor method using a mini food prep. Surprisingly enough it worked out perfectly, I made the dough in two batches which turned in to the bottom crust and a lattice for the top (my first lattice ever!). I usually check my recipe about 5,000 times in my anal, paranoid fashion and even while doing this I still managed to fuck up and put both dough rounds into the freezer thinking "the dough is going to be super flaky!". When it was time for the dough to be rolled out I had to beat the living hell out of it with a rolling pin, which actually turned out fine. From there it was smooth sailing and the pie came out perfect, especially after chilling in the fridge for a few hours to let the filling thicken to the right consistency. The recipe I used is perfect as a make ahead dessert since it comes out of the oven super runny and needs the rest time to come together. The crust is flaky and buttery and the filling provides a sweet and subtle sour jammy mixture. So so good, I will definitely add this to my keeper file. Might I add, his mom just so happens to love strawberry rhubarb pie! I seriously lucked out. Too jazzed that she loved the pie and even wanted to bake one with me. I wish we had gotten the chance to. Maybe next time though wink, wink.

These pictures aren't the most beautiful but I was working with my surroundings...aka camera phone, sue me.

 Strawberry rhubarb filling waiting to be mixed

Filling in rolled pie crust

Lattice being constructed. Under, over, under, over...

Not too shabby lattice with crimped edges

A juicy hot pie only a mother could love, fresh out of the oven. Begging to cool on the counter and not be cut open. Was definitely cut, couldn't help it!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Perfect Pie Crust: Recipe adapted from The Baker Chick

Ingredients:

 Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 sticks unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

1/4-1/2 cups ice water

Filling

3 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
3 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup tapioca flour (used as thickening agent, cornstarch may be substituted- different texture)
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces
heavy cream for brushing on top of crust
raw sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Crust

1. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and process for a few seconds to combine. 
2.  Add the butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds.
3.  With the machine running, add the ice water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds. 
4.  Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide in two. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap. 
5.  Flatten, and form two discs. Wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before using.

Pie

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a well-floured counter, roll half of pie dough into a 12-inch circle and transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. (I roll the crust over my rolling pin to help me move it to the pie dish.) 
2.  In a large bowl, combine the berries, rhubarb, sugars, lemon salt and tapioca flour. Pour the filling into the bottom crust. Dot with butter pieces. Roll out the top crust into a 12 inch circle, and either proceed with a lattice top, or a simple double crust. Seal the edges and crimp decoratively as desired. Brush the crust with the heavy cream and sprinkle with raw sugar. 
3.  Bake for 20 minutes at 400 and then reduce temp to 350 for another 25 minutes or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly. 
4.  Let pie cool for several hours before cutting, the filling will only thicken as it cools. (hard to be patient I know.) To speed up the process a bit pop it in fridge for a couple hours. The pie can also be baked the night before serving.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Granola Bars- My 1st post!

I am in no means a workaholic. Especially when it comes to working a shitty part time job at a deceptive ice cream franchise.. in order to keep my sanity and not bite a rude customer's head off I occasionally beg a coworker to cover a shift. Last week I was in a lazy, crabby funk and spent an afternoon prying and pleading my coworker to get a shift covered. In a moment of desperation I offered up a sweet "healthy" treat to seal the deal after what seemed to be the impending doom of actually working; thankfully she took the bait. I spent my salvaged day the best way possible, getting in a workout and celebrating in front of my laptop sifting through recipe after recipe for hours. Literally hours. It was glorious.

Eventually I followed through on my end of the deal and chose to whip up some granola bars, knowing that my coworker is usually starving and snackless when she gets in to work. In all truth these granola bars really aren't that healthy, they have added sugars, chocolate, and oil, but in moderation these will do for a sweet tooth craving fix and an energy boost. Plus eating one of these is infinitely better than having that one free ice cream per shift (thousands upon thousands of calories). Must resist the temptation. After eating the ice cream you feel like a big, fat, worthless slob anyways. Totally not worth the 2 minutes of bliss while wolfing it down. I'll take the granola bar instead, thanks.

While I was making these granola bars I completely forgot to add in a couple health food touches that I normally have on hand such as whole and ground flax seeds, chia seeds, and  sunflower seeds to add some health benefits and texture. Must have been in some kind of oblivious stupor. Will do next time.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Granola Bars: Recipe adapted from For the Love of Cooking

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats
1 scant cup pecans, chopped
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, dark, carob, sugar free, doesn't matter)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x9 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Put oats and pecans on a baking sheet and toast in oven for roughly 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While oats are toasting, combine oil, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, salt and vanilla in a medium saucepan on medium heat until brown sugar is dissolved.

Once the oats are done, turn oven down to 300 degrees F and add oats to the sugar mixture and stir to combine, adding the coconut. Press mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and press them into oat mixture (this could also be done post baking for chips to hold their shape). Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.


Cool on wire rack until firm and cool to the touch. Turn out onto a cutting board and slice into desired shape. Store granola bars individually in plastic wrap at room temperature.