NICU is Daring Enough

Yes, it is Daring Bakers' (check the blogroll here!) post day and I have not post. I think that it is fair to say that this month, the NICU is daring enough for me! The challenge this month was a lovely, buttery puffed pastry...that I used to LOVE when I was little. Well, I've never actually had it homemade but one of my favorite dished was a chicken dip that my mom served in these very pastries...the American version, straight from the freezer...they were delicious! And to top it off...it's QUICK AND EASY...and obviously kid friendly! I have recreated this recipe with a few changes...adding some broccoli and decreasing the delicious creamy stuff. I must say that the regular version IS better but the slimmed down version is still quite yummy! I'll give you both here. And if you're daring enough you can make some of these delicious pastries and try out chicken dip for yourself!

Chicken Dip (the original)
1 8oz cream cheese (1/3 less fat is what my mom uses), softened
1 can cream of mushroom soup (98% fat free)
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1/2 cup milk

Stir ingredients together and microwave at 50% for 6 minutes. Stir and then on high for 3-4 minutes. Serve in puffed pastry "baskets."

Slimmed down version - okay...I don't remember what I did because it's been so long, but I know I used a bag of broccoli and less cream cheese and soup...probably half, enough to coat the chicken and broccoli (the other version is very creamy). Then I topped it with some fiber one and baked in the oven at 350 until bubbly.

Snickerdoodle Cake

I have come to the conclusion that snickerdoodles are one of my favorite cookies. So, whenever I see something with the name "snickerdoodle" in it, I want to make it. Like snickerdoodle muffins. Or how about snickerdoodle blondies. Or snickerdoodle pound cake from Julie at Dozen Flours? Well, that's what I decided to make this week for a meeting where M was talking about a mission trip to Nicaragua. It was for a group of women, so I knew that this lightly flavored cake would be perfect. I did have one little snag while I was making it (on my pre-call day knowing that I would not have time to make it post-call)...I CANNOT FIND MY BUNDT PAN! I'm so sad...somehow, in my move, it has been misplaced and I still haven't found it. Thankfully, I have a glass tube pan from Granny. It is a bit smaller than your typical bundt pan, so, the cake came close to overflowing, but it still worked. I did have to change one thing in the recipe because I didn't have any sour cream; so, I substituted buttermilk in equal portions. I think it worked, though sour cream probably would have made for a slightly moister cake. One of the cool things about this cake is the crust that the cinnamon sugar leaves on the top of the cake...LOVE IT! I also love the layers left by the cinnamon mixing with the batter. Beautiful! So, how did it go over at the meeting? I was worried that I would come home with lots of leftover cake...well, I came home with ONE piece! I'd say the ladies liked it. So, try this delicious cake...it's perfect for a tea, Sunday dessert, or just beacause. And stay tuned, because I have another different snickerdoodle recipe to try out sometime. Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup white sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature (I used 1 cup buttermilk)

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Mix together really well and set aside. Preheat oven to 325F (oops...I did it at 350).

Spray a 9 inch Bundt pan with cookiing spray, being careful to cover all the nooks and cranies, as well as the center tube. Gently dust the entire inside of the pan with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Beat just the butter on medium speed for one full minute. Add the white sugar and mix for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and blade and add the brown sugar.

Mix for 2 minutes until the mixture looks light brown and uniform in color. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each for 1 full minute. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream; beat well. (I just added all the flour at once AFTER adding the buttermilk...partly because I just didn't read this instruction. It still worked but might be more tender if you do it the correct way.)

Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture over top the cake. Spread the rest of the batter into the pan and sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over the top. (If you run out of cinnamon sugar, you can mix just 1/4 cup of sugar + 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon together for the top of the cake. It should be more than enough.)

Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Sweat and Sour

...and no, that's not a typo! In July I decided that I wanted to try and make a vegetarian version of shepherd's pie...I guess that would make it a gardener's pie! So, I searched for recipes but didn't really find one I liked. I did notice, however, that most recipes used curry powder...which I tend to enjoy. So, I chopped up some veggies including eggplant, zucchini, squash (summer and pattypan), and onions. I sauteed these in my cute new PINK pan that I purchased at Kroger (ha!). Then I added some seasonings along with curry powder. A few minutes later this weird, sweaty smell arose from my pan. What is it with curry that makes it smell like sweat? Hmmm...I still like the taste of it! One other thing I changed from the traditional shepherd's pie is substituting mashed cauliflower for the potatoes! I have mentioned in the past how much I love mashed cauliflower and I think it really worked for this dish. On top of the dish went Parmesan cheese and some sharp cheddar, which browned nicely. Now, to the taste...overall, I really enjoyed this. However, there was something not quite right...something, oh, sour! It drove me crazy for a while, then I determined that it was the pattypan squash. Every bite I had that contained this squash was a bit sour. I'm wondering if the squash I had just wasn't quite ripe, because I've had pattypan before and don't remember it being sour. I think this was a fun variation on a comfort food classic...try it out some time with your OWN variations! Gardener's Pie
1 eggplant, cubed
1 zucchini, cut into thin slices
1 summer squash, cut into thin half moons
1 patty pan squash, cubed
1 can Italian diced tomatoes
1 tomato, cubed (optional - wanted to increase the tomato)
1 onion, diced
salt, pepper
curry powder- 1/2 tsp or more as needed for proper seasoning
1 head cauliflower, steamed and then mashed/pureed (I used one and it really could use up to two heads)
Parmesan cheese, grated
sharp cheddar cheese

Prepare the cauliflower. In a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray, place eggplant, onions, and squashes. Saute until softened. Add seasoning and curry to taste. When softened more, add tomatoes and stir until heated through. In an oval baking dish or 11X8 pan, pour cooked vegetable mixture. Spread mashed cauliflower on top. Sprinkle a liberal amount of grated parmesan cheese on to and add a handful of cheddar cheese. Place in a 350 degree oven until bubbly and cheese has browned.

Lightened Up

So, my last call was MUCH better than my previous one. The babies were kind, didn't crump, and though there were lots of babies born, they were mostly on time. I was already sleep deprived after going to a retreat for our church college Sunday School and getting up early to come to call with M, so around 0030 when I was unable to keep my eyes open, I went to bed. I didn't get paged and got up around 6:30 (after fitful sleep). Then, we had a delivery to attend and I got to intubate a baby again...successful on the first time! Woo Hoo! My call was definitely lighter! And so is this bar cookie I took to call a couple of weeks ago. This is one of the recipes I had saved from a Cooking Light (April 2009). It's for a lightened up Butterscotch Bar. One reason I like it is that it uses sweetened condensed milk. Yes, I know this stuff is horrible for you, but I love it. I used to always get one of the flavors that "required" it when I would get sno-biz (Hawaiian shaved ice....so good!). However, this recipe only used 3/4 cup of it (about half a can). I didn't have any butterscotch and, after NOT reading the instructions, thought that white chocolate-chocolate swirled chips would be yummy. Well, you end up melting the chips, so the swirl didn't really matter! It still turned out being pretty good. The bars were a tad dry but not so dry that it hurt to eat them. I enjoyed one for breakfast post-call. :-) Lightened Chocolate (or Butterscotch) Bars from Cooking Light April 2009
1 cup packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
9 ounces AP flour (2 cups)
2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats (I only had old fashioned...maybe this is why they were a bit dry) 1/2 teaspoon salt (I didn't use)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 cups butterscotch morsels (or your chosen flavor)
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (I don't think I used nuts)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine sugar and butter in bowl. Sitr in vanilla and egg. Combine flour and oats and soda in a bowl. Add oat mixture to sugar mixture; stir until combined and crumbly. Place 3 cups oat mixture i the bottom of a cooking spray coated 13X9 pan. Press into the bottom of the pan. In a bowl place the sweetened condensed milk, morsels and microwave for 1 minute or until morsels melt, sitrring every 20 secconds. Stir in nuts if using. Scrape on top of crust until evenly covered. Sprinkly evenly with the remaining oat mixture and press into the milk mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden. Run a knife around the edges after removing from oven. Allow to cool completely. Yield: 36 bars at 146 calories a bar.

What Do I Say...

WARNING: The first of this post is a run-down of an on-call day in the NICU...if you just want the cookie, PLEASE scroll down to just above the first picture! :-) It's a great cookie!

I guess I'm liking the NICU thus far. I really like my babies, though some of them have decided that it's cool to just hang out and let us pump formula in the instead of sucking the bottle. We'll just have to teach them. I was on call Tuesday night and it was busy to say the least! Between 6:30 and 8:30 we had three deliveries to attend. Then from 10 until about 2:30 we were dealing with a baby who was crumping (basically trying to die). We sat there and watched while her heart rate dropped into the 40's and, at times, even to virtually zero. Somehow, she kept returning to a rhythm. By about an hour to two hours in to working with her, we knew she was dying but "stable" for the night. So, we went to bed...for 15 minutes when we were paged to another two deliveries...then returned to bed for 30 minutes when we were paged to a delivery only find that the baby was already in the NICU...strange! Got that baby situated and we were paged to ANOTHER delivery...where I successfully intubated the baby!!!!!! I was so excited. That's where my call went really bad. I was on rounds and the nurse came to tell us that the baby we worked on for so long had no heartbeat...and my attending decided that it was a good idea for me (after virtually no sleep) to pronounce her. Um....let's just say my emotions were running on high (or low). I had to compose myself before I gave a time of death, then had to compose myself before returning to round...and on and on. Let's just say I had several moment of tears and basically broke down in my car on the way home. I think, though, that it's a good thing that this happened. It helped me see that, even though in the heat of the moment, in the stress of trying to figure out what's going on you almost HAVE to detach so that you can get things done, I am still human and really do care about my patients. That sweet thing was so small and her Mama didn't get to take her home. I cannot imagine.

After all that, it was a good thing I had one solitary cookie left over from call! Yep...I'm continuing the tradition of making treats for call. This time, I purchased a bag of toffee and went in search of a cookie recipe, and, boy did I find a good one! This is, once again, from Anna. The recipe is actually from Reynolds wrap. I changed it a bit for what I had on hand. Although Anna calls them capuccino cookies, I honestly couldn't taste the coffee. That did NOT detract from the cookie itself, though. My fellow on call residents thoroughly enjoyed them...M even told me that I had to quit bringing such good things on call because he had already eaten around 7 cookies. :-) Even my attending had a couple...of course, he never got away from the NICU, so they served as his supper. Anyway, I highly recommend these...and I'm not even a huge chocolate fan! Chocolate Toffee Almond Cookies

2 1/2	cups flour
1/2	cup cocoa
1	teaspoon baking soda
1/2	teaspoon salt
1	cup (2 sticks) butter, softened - I used 1 stick plus 3 Tablespoons and they were still quite moist and delicious!
1	cup packed brown sugar
1/2	cup granulated sugar
2	tablespoons instant coffee
2	tablespoon milk
2	eggs
2	teaspoons vanilla extract
1	package (8 oz.) toffee bits, divided I didn't use the full package...probably have 1/2 cup left
1	cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks I used about 2/3 cups white chips and 1/3 plus a little more of semi-sweet chips
1/2	cup sliced almonds, toasted I used pecans

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl (or just wait and do my quick combine on top of the butter sugar mixture!)

BEAT butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together in a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer, until light and fluffy. Dissolve instant coffee in milk. Beat in coffee mixture, eggs and vanilla until well blended.

ADD flour mixture gradually to creamed mixture; beat on low speed just until blended. Reserve 3/4 cup toffee bits; stir remaining toffee bits into dough. Drop by heaping tablespoons about 2-inches apart onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Combine chocolate chunks, almonds and reserved toffee bits (or white chocolate chips, pecans, and toffee!; set aside.

BAKE 4 minutes (cookies will still be wet on top.) Remove from oven; press cookie flat with the back of the measuring spoon. Sprinkle 1/2 heaping tablespoon almond-toffee mixture onto each cookie. Using the back of the measuring spoon again, lightly press topping into dough to form a larger round cookie.

CONTINUING BAKING 8 to 9 minutes longer or until cookies are set. Do not over bake. Slide parchment with cookies onto a wire rack to cool. This suggests using parchment paper...I didn't have any, so didn't use. IF you don't use it, be sure to remove the cookies after about 4 minutes of cooling or they will be VERY hard to remove from the pan!

It's ah Pizza-ah.

Before I get to the pizza, I want to make you aware of a simple way that you can help someone in need. Kristen, of Dine and Dish, has a friend, Ann, who is battling breast cancer. As you can imagine, there are lots of struggles that come along with this, one of which is money. Any time you visit Kristen's site some she "earns" money, which she is donating to Ann's family. So, stop by and help Ann out through Clicks-4-a-Cause. Now the pizza...I've been seeing several people making these wonderful looking vegetable pizzas. Well, I decided to join in and make a roasted veggie pizza. It was pretty good but I think that my yeast was pretty dead because the crust was fairly flat, whereas it is normally delicious! I didn't put much sauce ON the pizza because I was putting tomatoes on there, but after the fact, I think sauce on the crust would have been better. I ended up dipping it in sauce like you would stromboli. I used goat cheese on the pizza and it was pretty good. I'm going to have to revisit this sometime.Recipe...well, basically you make the crust linked above, roast the desired veggies (I did zucchini, squash, peppers, mushrooms and I think eggplant). Then spread sauce on, put the veggies on, add some tomatoes and cheese and bake at 425 for 15 minutes.

Baby, Baby, How was I Supposed to Know...

On Tuesday I started my new rotation in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). Now, this is somewhat...okay, TOTALLY uncharted territory for me. I did not do a NICU rotation my fourth year in medical school and it just kind of scares me. Most of these babies are teeny tiny. All of mine are less than four pounds (most less than three) and turning them over to listen to their hearts the first day was a bit nerve wracking...I'm a pro now. Now, I'm on call tomorrow and have no upper level to help me as there are three interns this month to two upper levels. Yes, I am the chosen one to be on call alone. Apparently, this won't really change much because there are nurse practitioners on with us, but it still makes me nervous. I guess that's all the more chance for me to learn quickly. There is SO much that I just don't know.....but one thing I do know is that browned butter makes just about everything better. I've found that using browned butter allows you to use LESS butter. I guess the flavor is just so rich, that you don't need as much to give the flavor. So, several months ago I decided to make a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies using browned butter. I must say that they were a success. I took these to a college Sunday School gathering and several of the other teachers requested the cookies just for them! The texture of these was just perfect....crispy on the outside and soft, almost chewy on the inside. I'm definitely going to try this technique again for some other "traditional" cookies...wonder what a browned butter snickerdoodle would be like? Would it change the taste too much? Hmmm...might just have to try that out! In the mean time, enjoy these! Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup wheat bran
1 cup chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the butter until melted and browned (about 3-4 minutes). Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. When cooled, cream together the browned butter and sugars. This will be thinner than the typical creamed mixture. Add egg and buttermilk and mix until combined. Stir together flour, soda, and bran. Mix into the butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chunks. Place the dough on baking stone or sheet in tablespoon sized balls. Place stone in oven and cook for 8-9 minutes or until slightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Remove from stone and cool on cooling rack until ready to enjoy!

Banana Bread that Works!

Sometimes, making banana bread is difficult. Even after cooking it for an hour, the center can be runny and uncooked. For a while I thought it was my oven, which it may have been. However, I recently came across a wonderful recipe on Anna's site...yes, she cooks things other than cookies! I made this a couple of weekends ago when I went home to see my parents and just made another loaf here with whole wheat flour. Both of them worked well. The whole wheat version wasn't quite as light in texture but wasn't overly "wheaty." Surprisingly, this is very similar in taste and texture to those very sugary and buttery version; however, it has less than 1 cup of sugar and only 1 tablespoon of oil. Wow! I HIGHLY recommend it and will probably use it as my go to recipe (along with my grandmother's) unless I find a good looking new one.

Low Fat Banana Bread (adapted from Epicurious)

1 3/4 cups flour (7.7 ounces) - all purpose OR while wheat (I was light handed when using the whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 ripe bananas — smashed or pureed in processor
1/3 cup buttermilk (or milk but buttermilk is better!)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 9×5 inch metal loaf pan with flour-added cooking spray.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy and light (about 5 minutes). Mix in smashed bananas, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Add flour mixture to banana mixture and stir just until blended. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake bread until golden brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Turn bread out onto rack and cool.

Makes 1 loaf.

Torte Memories

Zdrastvuitye, menya zavoot Clara. Vuie hotieti maya torta? Eta ochen fcusna. Okay, so that may not be grammatically correct...I DID only learn "apartment courtyard" Russian...but I had to throw a little Russian since this month's Daring Baker's Challenge reminded me of the time my family spent in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.
Everyday at the market, there was always a line of women standing there holding their masterpiece, a beautiful torte! These always had many layers and were filled with a light, mousse-like filling. Generally, they had nuts on them as well. We enjoyed many a torte but never learned how to make them. This torte was a bit different as the filling was a fairly rich chocolate buttercream. I did enjoy it but think I prefer the mousse-ish filling. As to the preparation of this torte...the cake layers gave me FITS! I actually measured out the batter to 3/4 cup as instructed. Then when it came to taking the layers OFF of the parchment paper...grrrr. I had to toss TWO layers from the get go and then ended up tossing another as I assembled the torte. How did I end up getting useable layers...I sprayed the paper, which wasn't instructed, and used a little more batter. Because of the two wasted layers, I didn't have enough layers to drench one in caramel and my torte ended up being a bit "squatty." When I made the icing I was SO worried that it was going to be like a ganache because it was very shiny and thin. However, after refrigerating it for a little while (all while watching Casablanca) it firmed up nicely. I forgot to cut nuts but used some raspberries for garnish, which I think turned out nicely. We thought that the taste was very much like the tortes we enjoyed in Bishkek and enjoyed a trip down memory lane. So, spasiba, Angela and Lorraine, for the challenging and memorable month. If you want to see more tortes, check out the blogroll.

Sponge cake layers

• 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner's (icing) sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)

Directions for the sponge layers:

(The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.)

1.Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).

2.Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9" (23cm) springform tin or circular baking pan as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn't touch the cake batter.)

3.Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner's (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don't have a mixer.)

4.In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner's (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.

5.Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8" springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Chocolate Buttercream

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
• 4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:

NB. This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

1.Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
2.Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.
3.Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.
4.Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
5.When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Caramel topping

• 1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
• 12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
• 8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

Directions for the caramel topping:

1.Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.
2.Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.
3.The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn't just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Finishing touches

• a 7” cardboard round
• 12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted
• ½ cup (50g) peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts

Assembling the Dobos

1.Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.
2.Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.
3.Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.
4.Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.

Randomness with Some Food

Question: Does anyone know how (or if) Blogger will let you respond to your comments through e-mail? I try to post responses in my comment section but know that some people who I want to respond to don't necessarily come back looking for my response.

Fun wedding reception item: I went to a wedding a few weeks ago and they had a dessert reception. They had chocolate ganache balls (I didn't really like these), cheesecake, biscotti, brownies and ice cream, brides cake (of course), fruit, cheese, and these PRECIOUS parfaits. I thought the were too cute to pass up a picture of. What a perfect summer dessert. This was made with whipped cream but you could totally make these super easy by using cool whip. :-)A few days ago, LisaMichele gave me such a sweet blog award...The Lovely Blog award. Apparently, this comes from having a positive attitude in your blogging...which I'm not so sure I always do but appreciate it nonetheless. So, here are my awards...and you guys follow with 13 other people who deserve the award!
Sarah at Ghost World
Cate at Sweetnicks
Katrina at Baking and Boys!
Emily at Sugar Plum
Jenna at Eat, Live, Run
Megan at Party of Two...praying for more
Paula at The Cookbook Junkie
Kate at Kate in the Kitchen
Abby at Confabulation in the Kitchen
Deborah at Taste and Tell
Red Dirt Mummy
Laura at The Dawkins Narrative
MaryLindsey at Hope in my Pocket

Finally, I went home last week (and do have the BEST banana bread coming for you) and we tried out a new restaurant called Pei Wei. It's kind of a bistro P.F Chang's and was very good. I had Vietnamese chicken salad wraps, which were delicious. Mama had Mongolian chicken (that had yummy mushrooms in it) and Daddy had Mandarin Kung Pau, which was pretty good and not too spicy. Try this place out if you've got one near you. They even have the famous lettuce wraps that PF Chang makes.

Just Peachy!

I always have a hard time finding good scone recipes. Either they are too dry or the dough is SO sticky that I can't follow the directions of "roll the dough to 3/4 inch thick." The other day, I saw a recipe for peach scones linked from Anna's site. It's a King Arthur recipe, so I figured it was worth a try since I had some Farmer's Market peaches in my fridge that I didn't want to go bad. The recipe calls for either using a scone pan, which would be cool but I don't have, or using a drop method. Perfect! It also claims to be a sticky dough...let me say, this was one of the best doughs I've made. Not dry enough to roll, but definitely not overly sticky. I was a bit upset that I forgot to dust them with my turbinado sugar, but they still turned out great. Not an overly sweet dough but the cooked peaches add the perfect amount of sweetness and tartness. I shared them with my friend, Sarah, and she said that they were delicious. I would definitely make these again as they were fairly easy and "Peachy Keen!" Try them out for yourself! Peach Scones
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or Mellow Pastry Blend
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt or sour cream (I used Greek yogurt which is yogurt that tastes a lot like sour cream!)
1 cup diced peaches, fresh or canned (for fresh it's about 1 medium peach)
2 tablespoons coarse sugar

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a divided scone pan, a 12-cup muffin pan, or a baking sheet. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and baking powder. Cut in the butter, using your fingertips, a fork or a pastry blender. (Use your fingertips...it's fun and quick).

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and yogurt or sour cream. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients. Add the peaches and stir just until everything is well-combined. This is a wet (not so much), sticky dough, good for drop scones.

Divide the dough among the compartments of the scone pan, or drop by the scant 1/4 cupful into the cups of a muffin pan or onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle the scones with coarse sugar, and bake them until they're golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes (on a baking sheet), or 18 to 20 minutes (in a pan). Yield: 8 to 12 scones. I got a baker's dozen!

Cake and claire(fontaine)

One of my favorite things to do is make breakfast treats and take them to Sunday School. I decided to do this one week during my wards month because I was done early on Saturday and really wanted to bake! So, I pulled out my (not so) organized recipe binder and looked for a good pound cake recipe. I love the crusty parts on pound cake. The one I found, which my mom has said is really good, was Mrs. Taylor Sour Cream Pound Cake. I decided to add some strawberries to the mix. The bad thing about making this cake....I help in the college Sunday School and college is out! So, we don't have many students right now AND we have doughnuts each week. Tell me...how many college students are going to choose homemade strawberry pound cake over doughnuts? Not many! :-) Oh, well. The cake ended up being VERY moist and soft without giving quite the crusty top that I like. It was still very good...you should try sometime! Just be more careful than I when removing it from the pan...The top broke apart in one place! And speaking of organization, if you like to take notes on things and enjoy fun, high quality notebooks check out the great giveaway of Clairefontaine products (with some Orla and Rhodia thrown in) hosted by Sarah, another pediatric resident in the blog world! So, enter her contest, though I think I should win because the product has my name in it!, and make this cake! :-) Mrs. Taylor's Sour Cream Cake with Strawberries
1 cup shortening (or 2 sticks butter)
1/2 pint sour cream (I used low fat)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash salt
1-1 1/2 cups cut strawberries
OR
1/2 cup chopped pecans with 2 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream shortening and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients then fold in sour cream. Fold in strawberries.* Grease and flour tube pan. Pour into pan.

*If using nuts and sugar mixture pour half batter into pan, sprinkle pecan mixture on top and the pour remaining batter on top.*

Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees F. Let stand in pan until cool.

I'm Melting, I'm Melting!

Though June was an extremely hot June for MS (high's in upper 90's and lower 100's) July hasn't been so bad. I've heard, though, that my friends in the northwest are suffering. I'm sorry and feel your pain...but am very thankful for my air conditioning! A few months ago, I saw an interesting idea using portabella mushrooms, though I'm not sure where I saw it. It's a different take on a tuna melt and I thought I'd share it with you. All I did was grill some mushrooms on my George Foreman, you don't even have to take the gills out. Then mix some tuna (the kind in the air tight bag...love it!) with pickles and goat cheese and some kind of "sauce" (i.e., mayo, yogurt, mustard...whatever flavor you like. Put this on top of the mushroom and top with a homegrown tomato...those are the best! Place all on top of some toasted bread. Enjoy with some fresh summer fruit. Perfect summer meal.

Berry Delicious

I have now completed my LAST call of the month. Overall, my team had a REALLY good month. This last call was pretty good except that I really messed myself over by spacing a kid to albuterol treatments every hour at midnight KNOWING that at 3 am I would have to get up and go listen to him to see how he was doing...but he needed it, so I did my job! :-) Anyway, on one of our earlier calls, I decided to take something a little different. I usually make cookies but saw a great looking recipe for blueberry sour cream bars on Anna's site. With the way blueberries are right now, I knew I had to try it. Let me just say...delicious!!!! Everyone liked them and they were the perfect refreshing treat for call. The only problem was that they really got pretty soft if they were not refrigerated. I did have to make a change to the recipe as I was out of brown sugar. They tasted fine and I think that they only change would have been a browner color and slightly richer taste. Please, if you have some blueberries sitting around to be used, try these!

Blueberry Sour Cream Bars

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (118 grams)
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats (60 grams)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (110 grams)
1/2 teaspoon salt (2 ml) – if using salted butter, reduce to a pinch
6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut up (85 grams) - I think I used margarine

Filling:
6 tablespoons granulated sugar (70 grams)
1/2 cup regular (reduced fat) sour cream (114 grams)
1 1/4 tablespoons flour (10 grams)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla (1 ml)
1 teaspoon lemon juice (5 ml)
1/8 teaspoon salt (pinch)
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C). Line an 8 inch metal pan with foil and spray foil with cooking spray.

Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and salt in food processor. Pulse to mix, then add butter and pulse until mixture is a coarse meal. Set aside about 2/3 cup, then press the rest into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes to set crust.

Filling: Mix the sugar, sour cream, flour, vanilla, lemon juice and salt together in a bowl. Add the blueberries and stir to coat. Spread over crust. Sprinkle reserved topping and pecans (if using) over filling. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Chill for an hour, then lift foil from pan and cut into 12 (16) bars.

Clouds of Sugar

It's that time again. That time of them month...you know, when hundreds of bloggers post the same recipe, maybe with different variations and different styles, but the same base. Yep, it's Daring Baker time. The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network. In my slowly becoming sleep deprived brain, I thought it was a week later than it was and decided I'd make these for a wedding shower at work...that happens July 30! Oh, well! Because of my call schedule, I had to break this process up into parts. I made the dough one day and put it in the refrigerator. This was pretty easy, though I was concerned that the dough was a bit too sticky. The refrigeration didn't really help that either. When it came to making the marshmallow, I decided to change things up a bit....one change was purposeful, the other was accidental! I didn't have any corn syrup and didn't want to make a trip to the store to buy any, so I substituted cream of tartar (which google says you can do!). The accidental change was my omission of the gelatin, which I DID actually have! ANOTHER mistake I made was putting the marshmallow on before I cooked the cookies...which I thought was how I was supposed to do it. None of these mistakes really made a bad effect on the outcome. I wasn't bowled over by the results BUT my parents really liked them. After a long weekend of moving apartments, my parents discovered these treats and dug in. My dad said, "Oh, yeah!" He really liked the combo of all the different ingredients. His suggestion was to add some peanut butter under the marshmallow or even use cappucino chips (melted) to cover the whole thing. Overall, this was a pretty simple challenge, especially when broken up into separate steps on different days. Thanks, Nicole! If you want to see more results go here.

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together (oops...I just put them in without whisking)
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature. (Oops! Baked AFTER adding the marshmallow topping)
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup (1/2 tsp cream of tartar)
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin (omitted accidentally)
• 2 tablespoons cold water (omitted accidentally)
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

Microwave chocolate chips and oil for 40 seconds, stir and repeat until melted and smooth.

Mini Call

Typically, as an intern on call you don't get much sleep because you are the one the nurses call when they need anything...this child has a fever, this kid's chest is hurting but it's been hurting since they came in, so and so has a rash after antibiotics but this is the sixth dose, etc. Most of the time you don't have to leave the lounge BUT you do have to wake up, get up, and call the floor. Anyway, my second call, I don't think I had a single floor call after midnight...AWESOME! (Just so you know...that hasn't happened since!) Who knows, maybe this "mini" call was due to the mini-cookies I took. Emily, the amazing teen baker, created some cookies for her sister's birthday and I thought they looked delicious. So, I tried them out for the on-call treat. They were perfectly soft and moist but not at all cakey. The perfect cookie. I REALLY love using browned butter...it totally adds to the flavor of the cookie. In fact, at some point I have an original recipe from me (!) coming up that uses browned butter. Anyway, I think that a great addition would be some toasted nuts but these cookies were great as is. I used caramel-chocolate swirled chips for a little something special. Try them out for yourself! (Sorry about the poor picture quality!) Mini Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Recipe by Me)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups quick oats
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup caramel-chocolate swirled chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; continue to cook the butter, whisking frequently, until it starts to brown and foam, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside for 10 minutes (I was impatient and didn't wait...it worked anyway).

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together brown sugar and peanut butter until creamy, about 1 minute; beat in browned butter until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Pour dry ingredients on top of this and lightly stir them together, then reduce mixer speed to low and beat in oat mixture until combined; stir in chocolate chips.

Roll tablespoons (I used about 1/2 tablespoon and got 4 dozen) of dough into balls, place on cookie sheets, and flatten slightly. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Makes 4 dozen mini cookies (I got 4 dozen using 1/2 Tablespoon...I measured just to be sure.)