Hello all!!

I guess I took the summer, and then some, off.

But now it’s fall, the weather is lovely and I’m back in the kitchen with a new plan and more baking to be done!

First off, I am back in North Texas and am officially starting my own home bakery! I even have a mascot! Ms Bee.

If you have an event, or party that you need some baked goodies for, let me know! 

Since the holidays are just around the corner, I’m taking pie orders now for Thanksgiving! 

Choose from:

Granny Smith Apple Pie with Gruyere and Sharp Cheddar Cheese Crust

My Grandaddy’s Pecan Pie (with optional bourbon soaked cherries)

and Fresh Pie Pumpkin Pie 

All are made from scratch!! All so delicious! 

I’ll be posting some new recipes soon! Irish Coffee Cupcakes and ???

I’ve always been a big fan of chocolate and nuts. In cakes, candy bars cookies and pies, I love it! At my first taste of Nutella, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. 

At the start of my baking career for the Family Wash, I stuck to tried and true “fan favorites” - My mom’s traditional desserts - Pumpkin Pie, Sour Cream Bunt Cake (which I later turned into a “B” Original - the Hopscotch Cake) and Apple Pie. I’d only baked for fun, family and friends up to that point; so creating my own recipes hadn’t really occurred to me just yet.

So this recipe, my friends, is my own little taste of heaven, beginning to end. My challenge to myself: Create an adult version of the “Almond Joy.” The result: B’s Nutella Mousse!  

INGREDIENTS:

Crust

(1) 7 oz bag of coconut (sweetened or dry)
Note: I use both types of coconut; a half a bag of each
¼ cup of Dark Rum
¼ cup of Butter
1/4 tsp of Cinnamon
1/8 tsp of Ginger
1/8 tsp of Chili Powder
(2) Pinches of Allspice
(1) Pinch of Cloves
(2) Pinches of Cayenne Pepper

Nutella Mousse

6.5 oz of Nutella (or Hazelnut Spread)
¼ cup of Dark Rum
2 tbsp of Butter
1 cup of Whipping Cream
3 Eggs (separated)
1 tbsp of Sugar
 
Whipped Cream

1 cup Whipping Cream
2 tbsp of Sugar

1/4 tsp of Cinnamon 
1/8 tsp of Ginger 
1/8 tsp of Chili Powder 
(2) Pinches of Allspice 
(1) Pinch of Cloves
(2) Pinches of Cayenne Pepper 

CRUST

Combine coconut in a food processor. Chop until unified and less chunky.

Put in Bowl. Add Rum and spices and combine well.

Note: Spice to your taste. These are only suggested amounts. 

Then add butter, mix until well saturated.

In a 9 inch pie pan place a sheet of parchment paper.

Place content of bowl on to the parchment paper.

Spread evenly to make a consistent crust.

Place in oven at 300 degrees for 10 mins, or until tips are golden brown. 

MOUSSE

Take the Nutella (or hazelnut spread) into a double broiler on low heat.

Add Rum and butter.

Combine until smooth melted consistency. (bout 10 mins) 

After ingredients are combined and smooth, set aside to cool.

In a medium size bowl whip the cream until hard peaks form, and somewhat clumpy texture (some where between whipped cream and butter).

Stick in the refrigerator to keep cool.

Separate the eggs.
Take the egg whites and beat until frothy.
Add 1 tbsp of sugar.
Continue mixing until stiff peaks are formed.

Add egg yolks to the Nutella mix.

Once the yolks are incorporated, fold in a 1/3 of the Whipped Cream until smooth.
Then fold in 1/3 the egg whites until smooth.

Continue alternating the cream and the egg whites (ending with cream), until smooth and fully incorporated.
 
Once the crust has had time to cool, place the mousse into the pie pan and place in the freezer to set.

 
Whipped Cream Topping

Mix sugar and spices into a medium bowl.

Add whipping cream and whip until stiff peaks form.

Once the mousse has set (takes at least 45 mins to an hour), place the whipped cream on top of the mousse, spreading evenly.
 
Place back into freezer until fully chilled. 

Note: Remove from freezer 10 to 15 mins be serving to let it soften slightly to make it easier to cut. 

Recommended serving is 8 pieces per pie. 

To accompany your adult dessert, I recommend a Dark and Stormy!! 

You can also create mousse cups instead of the pie to look like so 

First and last pictures were taken by Whitney Lee @http://www.whitneyleephotograp

 hy.com/ at Scott and Ellen’s Wedding in Austin at the Palm Door.

I must confess, I sometimes have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew. This past

weekend was a perfect example. I agreed to make all of the desserts, and the bride and groom

cakes for my friend and colleague Scott’s wedding! Add to that the fact that this was only the

second wedding I have ever done, and you can imagine the pressure!

My first foray into the world of baking wedding cakes was for none other than my very own

sister’s wedding! OMG!!

Though a daunting task, her wedding was simplified by making two large sheet cakes to

accommodate the guests, and one personalized wedding cake for the bride and groom. In

addition, I also had help from both my mom and my aunt Betsy. Happy to say, it was a success!

Scott and Ellen’s Wedding was all on me! No family assists. AHHH!

When I first sat down with Scott and Ellen to discuss their wish list for the desserts, I was excited

with the possibility. They wanted a variety – Sort of a cross between the dessert table at a church

social and a bake sale fundraiser, but with flair! Seeming to think I’m super woman, I did not

hesitate, “Of course I can make that happen!”

It goes without say, but I will anyway, this is a lot of desserts for just one person to make!!!

And the fact that I had a grand total of three and a half days to plan, shop, prep and bake before

delivering said desserts to the happy couple’s reception just made it all the more challenging.

The grand total was nine desserts and six different recipes

Two Strawberry Short Cakes:

The equivalent of three Nutella Mousse Pies.

One Key Lime Pie.

One Birthday Cake.

One Apple Pie with cheese crust. 

One Dr. Pepper Cake (This was the one dessert casualty that didn’t make it to the party. The

icing didn’t recover from the trip to the reception. It’s still hard for me to talk about the loss.)

What a lovely wedding and couple! 

One thing I can tell you after this experience, “I now know why tradition calls for one Wedding

Cake and one Groom’s Cake!” That being said, the desserts turned out beautifully, and were

loved by all!

They were especially loved by The Palm Door where the wedding was held and by Pink Avocado Catering!! This was wonderful news and a big ego boost I might add. Keep your fingers crossed that I will be working with them again soon.

Best of all, I can now refer to myself as a “Super Baker!!”Though I must say, I am pledging to be

a bit more realistic in terms of exactly how much this Super Baker will promise when baking for my next big event.  

Thank you to Whitney Lee for providing these last two photos, who you can also follow on tumblr @http://whitneyleephotography.tumblr.com/ I will be featuring more of her photos on my next blog and newest recipe, the Nutella Mousse!! 

I’ve always been a lime girl.  One of my favorite lime experiences is Key Lime Pie.  Ever since my first trip to the Caribbean at 10, I’ve appreciated a good piece of Key Lime Pie.  Unfortunately, one must experience a lot of bad pie to get to the good. 

The most telling characteristic of key lime pie is the color.  When it comes to the table bright green, you can pretty much bet it’s gonna be bad.  Even worse is when that bright green pie has the consistency of cheesecake.  Key Lime Pie is supposed to be a custard!!  (…My personal preference is *frozen* custard.)

So, today I am sharing with you what I believe is one killer Key Lime Pie!!

Crust

1 1/4 cups ginger snap cookies (approx. 25 cookies) - Crushed

1/4 cup almonds - Finely chopped

1/3 cup of softened butter

Filling

4 egg yolks

1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup of key lime juice (about 18 key limes) 

2 tsp lime zest

4 egg whites 

4 tbsp sugar

1 9 1/2 inch pie pan

First, mix crushed ginger snaps and almonds together in a bowl.  Add softened butter and mix thoroughly.  

Line the pie pan with parchment paper.  Press the crust mixture firmly and evenly into pie pan.  Set aside.

Rinse limes.

Zest lime - To get 2 tsp of zest you will use about half the lime.  Make sure when zesting you only get the green part of the skin.

Mix zest and lime juice - Let sit for 15 minutes.

Separate eggs:  Yolks in large bowl; whites in medium bowl.

Set egg whites aside.

Stir egg yolks until they lighten slightly in color. 

Mix condensed milk with egg yolks.  

Add lime juice SLOWLY to the mixture in the large bowl - You don’t want the milk to curdle. 

With an electric mixer whip egg whites until they start to foam.

Continue to whip egg whites, adding a tablespoon of sugar one at a time to create a fluffy meringue.

Beat until stiff peaks are formed.

Combine the meringue and the custard mixture. 

Pour final mix into the pie pan. 

This is where I put the Key Lime Pie directly into the freezer. 

Note:  If you worry about raw eggs, you can bake the pie at 350 for 10 to 12 mins.  DO NOT over cook!!  If it starts to turn even a little brown take it out

Voilà! 

This week is South by South West. What a cluster….

For my ever vigilant endeavor to stand out in the sea of SX hipster chaos, I’m going in the form of the tradition of homemade cookies. 

I’m calling these the SXSW Cluster Cookies.

These are cute silver dollar size cookies, but packed with flavor!!

The Finished Product!!

In these cookies are: apricots, pecans, dried cherries, chocolate chips, coconut, and whatever else I can think of! 

You can seek me out this week or stop by a show for a sample. Recipe will be coming soon!

Here’s the SXSW Schedule. All these are free!                                                          

Friday Night @9:30 Kick Butt Coffee 4600 Guadalupe                                        

Saturday Day @2PM Threadgills WH with The Mastersons 301 West Riverside Drive

Sunday Day @2PM Romeo’s with The Mastersons 1500 Barton Springs Road

The Hopscotch Cake is a semi-homemade recipe, but the vote has been cast, so here it is!

This recipe started really simple and now it has complicated itself over time. Trust me though, it’s worth it.

Ingredients:

I usually double this to make 2 cakes **doubled ingredients

1 yellow cake mix (2 1/4 cups)      **2 yellow cake box mix

1/2 pack of vanilla pudding (1/2 cup) **1 pack

1/2 pack of chocolate pudding (1/2 cup) **1 pack

4 eggs **8 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil **1/2 cup

1/4 cup milk **1/2 cup

1/2 cup water **1 cup

1 cup sour cream **2 cups

1 cup of butterscotch pieces  **2 cups

greased bundt pan

When I say a greased pan, I mean coated with butter and cooking spray. COAT that pan. COAT IT! Do not try flouring. I’ve tried it, and failed miserable. GREASE!

Preheat the oven to 375. 

NOTE Leave butterscotch pieces in the freezer until the last minute.  

In two bowls, mix the dried ingredients: divide yellow cake mix in half and combine the jello pudding mixes  to each (chocolate in one bowl, vanilla in the other).

In a third bowl combine eggs, milk and oil.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients equally (about one cup of wet to each the chocolate and the vanilla mix). Mix well.

Next add sour cream, 1/2 to each bowl mix. Blend until smooth. Then slowly combine the chocolate batter to the vanilla batter until desired marble effect.

Poor into bundt pan.

Lastly, take the butterscotch pieces and pour them over the batter. Just lightly incorporate them, but NOT too much!! 

Place into oven and bake for 50 mins or until knife comes out clean. Let cool for 20 mins before flipping out on to a flat surface.

I also suggest scraping the sides before turning over, because the butterscotch does still tend to stick no matter how much you grease.

What makes this cake great is the simplicity of the recipe. But I do invite anyone to make it from scratch, but I prefer the box, believe it or not. So delicious!! 

This recipe also make a fabulous cupcake recipe!! The recipe is the same with the exception of when to add the butterscotch.

 After adding the sour cream to both bowl mixes, then add butterscotch before combining chocolate with vanilla. 

Oven temp is the same, but only bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

I use a simple icing for these cupcakes

1/2 cup soft butter

1/2 cup cream cheese 

1 cup heavy whipping cream 

1 to 1 1/2 cups of confectioner sugar 

First cream butter and cream cheese.

Then add confectioner sugar until blended.

Next whipping cream, slowly at first then beat until stiff peaks have formed.

Wait until cupcakes cool, then spread as much or little icing as desired!! 

Enjoy!!

First thing. Birthday Party.

Some might think it’s tacky to make your own Birthday Cake, I personally prefer it unless my mother or my sister are in close proximity to make it for me!

In my family, we have The Birthday Cake. 

I created the original recipe with nuts and coconut in the icing. My sister prefers it without, but my birthday, my preference!!

The recipe consists of buttermilk cake with cream cheese icing. Though it seems like heavy icing and cake, but it comes light and fluffy and so so delicious!! 

I made this at my birthday show, and almost didn’t get a piece! 

This Birthday Cake has also been used for my sisters wedding cake! 

Whitmore’s Family Birthday Cake Tradition and by the end of this year, I will be sharing!!