Bunny bread! (Taken with instagram)

Curried Lentils with Ham and Israeli Cous Cous:

Tonight I really wanted curry, but didn’t have much to make it with, so I decided to throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and see what happened. Turns out, ham is actually pretty good in curry!

Mother’s Day Brunch: Mini Breakfast Souffles and Strawberry Yogurt Parfaits

Many restaurants hike up the prices on Mother’s Day, but you can save some money and show mom how much you love her with this EXTREMELY easy breakfast.  The mini souffles are from Emeril and were featured in May’s Issue of “Everyday Food” (though for some reason, I can’t find the recipe online) and consist of an egg and flour batter poured over ham, cheese and onions.  Other ingredients could easily be substituted to make this dish vegetarian-friendly (if you’re still an egg-eater) or if you just want to experiment with other flavors.  Next time I’m going to try diced chicken, spinach, mushroom and Swiss cheese!

The parfaits are even easier.  Just layer vanilla yogurt over strawberries or other fresh, seasonal fruit.  Serve in parfait or martini glasses for extra visual appeal!

║ Ratings║ 

Taste: ★★★★☆ - 

Visual: ★★★★★ - 

Level: Intermediate - 

Botch Factor: Medium - 

I decided to try my hand at candy making after seeing this gumdrop recipe on Bakerella’s site.  Although the candy cubes are adorable, I decided to use the shaped ice-cube trays I have (and never use) for my gumdrops.

I used strawberry, lemon and coconut flavoring.  The coconut was definitely my favorite. 

║ What I learned:║

• You know how it says to use a “large” pot?  Make sure you use a LARGE pot!  Once it begins to boil, the gelatin/sugar mixture bubbles and foams, expanding a LOT.  Unfortunately, the pot I used wasn’t large enough and it boiled over onto my stove, making a carbonized sugary mess!  
• I found that 1/4 tsp of flavoring wasn’t enough to actually flavor my gumdrops.  If it’s a strong extract, like mint or lemon, it may be enough, but for weaker flavors, you may need to use more.
• Bakerella was right when she suggested using cooking spray or oil to grease the molds.  Make sure you use plenty and the gumdrops will pop right out!
  

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!  This year I got to make the entire Thanksgiving meal myself and I couldn’t have been happier! 

We’re not big into turkey in my family and it was only going to be four of us, so I made a roast chicken with extra dark meat.

The sides included baked sweet potatoes and apples, mashed potatoes with goat cheese and caramelized shallots…

…stuffing with Italian sausage and apples…

…and Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pomegranate and Hazelnuts!  I got most of the recipes out of the November issue of Food Network magazine.

And of course, what’s Thanksgiving without PIE?! 

Because we were such a small party, and I wanted everyone to have their favorite flavors…

…I made mini, muffin-tin pies in apple, cherry, blueberry, blackberry, and cherry.  With the help of some Pillsbury piecrusts, canned pie filling and Not Martha’s blog on mini pies, they came out wonderful!

Happy Holidays everyone!  The food has just begun!  :)

Tonight I made breakfast for dinner and—omigod—I have found my new favorite kind of pancakes: COCONUT!!!  

If you like coconut you have to try these.  Add shredded, sweetened coconut to the batter and cook in LOTS of butter.  To finish, skip the maple syrup and sprinkle with sugar instead.  *drool*  

(Source: coconut pancakes)

║ Ratings║ 

Taste: ★★★★☆ - Slightly salty because I used salted butter. Ooops! *_*

Visual: ★★★★★ - So….amazingly…cute.

Level: Intermediate - Steps are pretty straight-forward, but baking from scratch can be tricky and getting the dough to the right consistency took some tweaking.

Botch Factor: Medium - Dough didn’t quite double in size, as recipe said, but it still came out surprisingly well despite my lack of previous bread-making skills.

Let me start by giving credit where credit is due.  This is NOT my recipe.  I stumbled across the recipe which is a rewritten recipe of a translation of a Japanese recipe.  But then again, does it surprise anyone that this originated in Japan?  Of course the they would make bread with a cute, surprise panda inside! 

Recipe Links:

Tablespoon.com - The recipe with American measurements.

Perfect Pandas - A translation of the original Japanese recipe (uses grams)

Taro Taro - The original Japanese recipe.

I really recommend checking out the the original Japanese page as it has user submitted photos of how other people’s panda bread turned out, which are hilarious and adorable.

║ What I learned:║

• Being used to “cups” and “tablespoons” instead of “liters” and “grams”, I used Tablespoon.com’s recipe for all the measurements and general steps.  However, I also referred to Perfect Pandas because she included 2 rest phases for the dough.
• Even if you use a stand mixer, you have to hand knead the dough a LOT more in order for it to rise.  I learned this the hard way when my dough wouldn’t rise after 2+ hours and finally decided to knead it more by hand. 
• Putting the bowls of dough into the oven to rise works really well, especially if your house is cool.  Just make sure the oven is OFF.

Who said cake pops have to be sweet?  The idea for these reinvented, grade-school favorites came to me while I was trying to think of non-traditional pop recipes. And because I made them in my new Baby Cakes Cake Pop Maker, they turned out warm, fluffy and perfectly round! 

║ Ratings║ 

Taste: ★★★★★ - If you are a corn dog fan you will love these.  Bite-sized, warm, and tasty!

Visual: ★★☆☆☆ - More appealing with hot-dog sticking out and a mustard squiggle or else they just look like brown balls on a stick.

Level: Easy - and quick!

Botch Factor: Low - just make sure not to leave them cooking too long or they will burn.

║ What I used:║

• 1 box Jiffy Corn Bread Mix batter
• package of hot dogs, cooked (I prefer Boar’s Head)

║ What I learned:║

• For the first batch I made, I spooned batter into the holes and then added a piece of hot dog.  This resulted in the hot dogs sticking out of the cooked balls (1st large picture above).  For the second batch, I just spooned a little bit of batter into the maker, added the hot dog pieces and then covered with more batter.  They came out perfectly round with the hot dog in the middle (2nd large picture above), just like a real corn dog!  Both tasted great, it just depends on what you want them to look like.
• It’s ok if you add a little extra batter to each CP maker hole and it overflows into the middle.  You can break off the cooked batter from the cake ball once it’s done cooking.
• These taste best warm, so try to serve them up as quickly as you can!

This post was inspired by my friend, Lisa, who is making her very first batch of cake pops for her daughter’s birthday.  (I’m especially proud of her because she isn’t really into cooking.  So to that I say, “GO LISA! YOU CAN DO IT!!!!”)  Her questions got me thinking about the changes I’ve made to my pop-making process since my first post, so I decided to share a few tips I’ve learned along the way.  If you are unfamiliar with the basics of making cake balls, you may want to read my step-by-step directions first.

1. Less is More

Most cake pop recipes will tell you to add about 1/2 a canister of frosting to your cake crumbs, but I have found that this too much.  I mix about 1/4 of the canister into my crumbs and if the resulting “dough” is too crumbly, I add a blob at a time (about a tablespoon) until I get the right consistency.  You want the “dough” to be soft enough to roll into balls, but firm enough that it will stay on the stick when dipped.  Slightly softer than pre-made cookie dough is about right.

2. Chill Without Sticks

I’ve come across several comments on blogs and message boards regarding cake balls that fell off the stick during the dipping process and it was usually because the balls were chilled with the sticks in them.  To prevent your ball from falling off the stick when dipping it, chill without the sticks.  When you’re ready for the dipping phase, dip about a centimeter of the stick into the melted coating, then push it as far into the cake ball as you can before it breaks through the other side.  This will act as a glue, further securing the ball on the stick.

3. No Edges

The first time I made cake pops, I wasn’t very methodical in crumbing the baked cake.  I just sorta attacked it with my hands like a crazed digging mole until it was a bowl of crumbs.  Since I used the entire cake, edges and all, the resulting “dough” was a light tan instead of golden yellow.  While it didn’t affect the taste, the color wasn’t very appealing.  To get a lighter yellow or white cake, I now remove the outer layer of the cake before crumbing it.  After the cake has baked and cooled, use a serrated knife to cut off a very thin layer of the top, bottom and sides of the cake.  You can give the edges to your hovering husband, boyfriend or kids who are most likely begging for a taste of your freshly baked cake at this point.  And when that’s done you can attack the remaining inside of the cake like a crazed mole!  However, I strongly recommend you take your time and….

4. Work in Small Batches

This applies to a few steps of cake pop making, starting with crumbing of the baked cake.  To obtain a finer, more consistent cake crumb, cut the cake into several hand-sized pieces, take a piece in each hand and rub them together over a bowl until each piece is reduced to just crumbs. Repeat until the whole cake is crumbed.

It’s also best to work in small batches when dipping your cake balls into the candy glaze.  The coating takes longer to cool and harden when the balls are room temperature, which may lead to toppings sliding down the sides of the pop or the glaze dripping onto your workspace.  To remedy this, I leave all of my rolled cake balls on a plate in the fridge, take 3-4 at a time, dip them, and then set them aside to dry. 

5. Styrofoam is Your Friend

Want to be eco-friendly and reuse that chunk of styrofoam that came packaged with your new laptop?  Poke some holes in it, stand your drying cake pops in it and VOILA!  You now have a custom-made, cake pop drying rack!

6. Mind the Heat

When it comes to melting your chocolate or candy melts for dipping, you have two options: microwave or stove top.  While the microwave seems like the easier, mess-free option it’s a lot harder to control the heat.  If left in the microwave too long, candy melts will turn into a thick, chunky, mass that cannot be used.  Personally, I prefer warming the candy melts in a small saucepan on a burner because I can keep an eye on the heat.  After a few batches of cake pops I even bought a small, portable burner with a “warm” setting so I could sit at the kitchen table while I dip my pops.  If you do decide to chance the microwave, reduce the power to medium or low and heat for no more than 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between.

7. Start Early

While cake pops are not difficult to make, preparing them consists of many steps: baking the cake, allowing it to cool, crumbing it, making the “dough”, rolling and chilling the balls, then dipping, decorating and wrapping the pops.  The entire process can take several hours, so make sure you have plenty of time to devote, especially if it’s your first time making them.  I like to break up the process by baking the cake, rolling the balls, and chilling them in the fridge a day or two before I plan on dipping them.

Have any other tips you think are important to those just discovering the fun of cake pop making?  Feel free to comment!