Pinned it, made it: Earl Grey cake + rhubarb/vanilla bean jam

Two of my favorite things in the world: Earl Grey tea & rhubarb. When I pinned this recipe from Rasperri Cupcakes, I knew I had to try it out - sooner than later.

I made a couple of tweaks to the recipe. Rather than bake it in a round cake pan, I decided to go with  loaf pans. I doubled her recipe and got four mini loaves. The cakes were a bit on the large size though, so you could easily get five. I didn't have any cream cheese handy, so I opted to make a rhubarb/vanilla bean jam instead of the glaze. The recipe also called for self-rising flour which I do not use. I found a conversion online (adding baking powder and salt to AP flour) which worked just fine.

The result:delightful! The cake was moist, not too sweet with lots of Earl Grey flavor. I loved it with the jam, but it was just fine without it too. Next week: fresh strawberry cake!

Rhubarb/vanilla bean jam
1 lb rhubarb, cut into 1" pieces
2 cups sugar
juice of 1 lemon
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped

Add all ingredients in a heavy pot and stir over low heat until the sugar disolves. Cook on medium heat until the mixtures boils and begins to gel, about 20 minutes. Stir regularly to avoid the rhubarb sticking to the pan and burning. Remove from heat and transfer to a glass jar and refrigerate.

Pinned it, made it: mini funnel cakes

Have you jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon? I am officially obsessed! To justify all of the time that I spend pinning away, I am committing myself to trying out a recipe (or maybe something crafty) once a week.

So, first up: mini funnel cakes. I love classic fair food and was super excited to try out this recipe. A traditional funnel cake is so huge that after a few bites the appeal has worn off. At only about 4" in diameter, you can enjoy the nostalgic goodness without feeling like you've had a few too many spins on the tilt-o-whirl. The tutorial is fantastic and I didn't change a thing about the recipe. I found they were just as good a few hours later (with a quick zap in the microwave), so if you wanted to make them for a dinner party, you could get all the messy frying out of the way before hand.

One down, 700+ to go!

Sweets for my sweets

fresh strawberry milk and chocolate/chocolate cocoa nib shortbread hearts

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a giveaway from one of my favorite party stylists, Pure Joy Events for bunch of adorable Valentine's Day goodies from Cute Tape. As last minute treats for friends and family, I was able to put the heart straws and little chevron bags to good use.

By the way, have you ever made real strawberry milk? It is easy and delicious and actually tastes like strawberries!

Fresh strawberry milk
1 lb strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced in quarters
6 oz sugar

Combine the strawberries and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes until syrupy. Pour off the syrup and cool. At this point, you can continue to cook the strawberries for about 15 minutes to make a delicious jam. To serve: Mix 8 oz of milk with 1/4 cup of strawberry syrup and shake vigorously.

Lollipop, lollipop, oh my little lollipop

 I spotted these little lollipops  sold by Sweet Style in Australia and was charmed by their simplicity and size. I did a little searching and wasn’t able to find them available stateside, so I thought “what the heck, the laundry can wait another day, I’m making lollipops!” There are a lot awesome things about making these yourself – you can control the color, size and most importantly what goes in them. I am not a fan of artificial flavorings, so I used Boyajian natural orange oil that made these taste as good as they look. I added a pinch of Disco Dust to add a little sparkle (fullfilling my New Year’s resolution to be more sparkley).

A few words about working with really hot sugar: Working with sugar is super fun, but can also be a bit dangerous (maybe that’s why I like it!). This recipe is best attempted when you can give it your full attention – no kiddos running underfoot or multitasking on your Iphone. When you get about 10° below the desired temperature, do not take your eyes of the thermometer, because it will go rather fast. Take care not to get touch the very hot sugar – there’s nothing worse than a sugar burn!

 

Handmade Swirl lollipops – yield 12-18 lollipops depending on size.
Recipe adapted from here
2 cups of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of light corn syrup
1/2 cup of water
1/4 tsp. of cream of tartar
½ tsp. of natural flavored oil (or ¾ tsp extract)
¼ tsp of citric acid
2 drops of gel food coloring
1 pinch of Disco Dust (if desired)
White lollipop sticks

1. Add the sugar, corn syrup, water and cream of tartar into a large saucepan. Stir the mixture together until it is well combined, and the sugar is dissolved completely.

2. Insert the candy thermometer into the mixture and cook the mixture until the temperature on the candy thermometer reads 265 degrees F. Do not stir the mixture while it is cooking.
3. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the food color, flavoring, citric acid and disco dust (if using), stir to incorporate.
4. Pour the hot candy mixture onto a sheet pan covered with a Silpat (preferably) or sprayed parchment paper. As the candy cools, gently fold it on itself with a heat proof spatula.
5. When the candy is cool enough to touch, lightly spray your hands with pan spray and pull off a small portion of the candy mixture. Kneed the candy until it is opaque and roll it into a rope.
6. Create the circle swirl shape by coiling the candy rope around itself until you've achieved the desired size.
7. Place the candy swirl onto another Silpat covered sheet pan and press a lollipop stick firmly into the candy. Repeat with remaining candy. If it becomes to hard to work with, microwave a bit at a time for 5 seconds or until pliable.
8. Allow the candy to cool completely, until it is hard and set, then enjoy!

My subtle valentine

Unlike me, by husband doesn't like stuff. He doesn't collect anything or have any particular hobbies. This is all fine with me, but it makes gift buying difficult at best. The one thing I know he appreciates is homemade chocolate chip cookies (always with nuts!). With Valentine's Day coming up, I wanted to make him a sweet, but not cutesy, over-the-top gift. Using Silhouette vinyl and glass etching cream, I created the simple "Je t'adore" (I adore you) cookie jar that I can fill with treats he loves all year long.

Cooks Illustrated perfect chocolate chip cookies (with a couple of changes..)

1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1¾ sticks) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar
¾ cup (5¼ ounces) packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 350, and prepare 2 baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper

1. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.

2. Mix the melted butter and sugars together until fluffy

3. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until combine. Stir in vanilla

4. Mix in dry ingredients, then chocolate chips and nuts.

5. Scoop out cookie dough into 18 balls and bake for approximately 16 minutes.

Note: In the original recipe the butter is browned, but I don't think this step makes a big difference. For thin, crispy cookies, bake immediately. I made a happy discovery by leaving the dough at room temperature for 1 hour before baking - the cookies turned out thick and chewy and crispy - perfect!

Would you like to make your own cookie jar? Leave me a comment with your email and I will send you the "Je t'adore" file.