ABC: Maple-Pecan Medjool Date Rugelach

December 07, 2010 by Monica in ABC, Baking, Baking Club, Cookbooks, Cookies, Desserts, Sweets

The first time I came across Rugelach was at the Epicure Market, a local gourmet market, that has been a staple in Miami Beach for over 65 years. These crescent pastries are a traditional Jewish food which is eaten any time of the year, but are really popular and traditional during the Hanukkah holiday. Epicure (as the local refer to it), which catered to the large Jewish population in Miami Beach, made sure to have a whole case dedicated to these pastries. It was the mecca of Rugelach. I can not remember how many types there were but the combination of filling were numerous - raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, chocolate, marzipan, poppy seed, dry fruits even preserves. I don’t think there was any type of combination that Epicure had not tried.

My favorites were the ones filled with chocolate and marzipan. When I lived in Miami Beach, I would make sure to get there early on Saturday to fill a bakery box with this sweet treat and then spend the whole weekend munching away at the treat.

HCB: Chocolate Velvet Fudge Cake

December 05, 2010 by Monica in Baking, Baking Club, Cookbooks, Desserts, HCB, Sweets

Rose writes on this recipe that this cake is “wondrously soft, light, and deeply chocolaty.

Check! Check! and Check!

This cake is all that. Perfect because its easy to make, easy to decorate, easy to served and the most important easy of all? To eat.

Which was perfect for me, since I been sick with a nasty cold since Thursday, compliments of our wonderful temperamental weather here in Florida - for the past 4 days - we had 40, 30 and 80 degree weather all in one day. Perfect situation to catch a cold and make life just a little bit hard.

So I was not looking forward to complicated baking. In fact I was not looking forward to being in my kitchen period.

But, when you are sick you crave comfort food and for some inexplicable reason, I craved chocolate cake. So it was my luck that I could actually whipped this up in not time at all.

There is nothing complicated about making it. I don’t remember if this is in the Quick and Easy section of the book - it may not be, because there is a complicated sidebar of instructions in of how to make the marzipan candle.

HCB: Lemon Canadian Crown and Ladyfingers

November 28, 2010 by Monica in Baking, Baking Club, Cake, Cookbooks, Desserts, HCB, Sweets

Do any other cooks/bakers out there has a kitchen bucket list?

I do, I decided a while ago, to write everything that I wanted to accomplish in cooking/baking - specific recipes, techniques, things that made my legs go jelly (I’m looking at you fondant). My list has stuff like, puff pastry, pie dough (I think I got this one conquered), bread, pate, croissant, and yes among all of those difficult techniques and dishes is written “ladyfingers”.

From scratch.

This is the part where I thank my lucky stars that I found Heavenly Cake Bakers group, because without the push of having a weekly deadline, I would have never gotten around to making ladyfingers from scratch. And if I continue to write “scratch” over and over is because - Oh.my.god, I made ladyfingers from scratch!

Were they difficult? Was there a lot of swearing from my kitchen - a la Apple Charlotte? Did head rolls? Dogs and cats go into hiding? Did Tom walked out and told me to get my *stuff* together?

No, no and no.