Sunday, December 18, 2011

Prosecco & Berry Jam


Berries. So pretty. So yummy. So happy. Make them hot and juicy, add some bubbly Prosecco (not just for special occasions people!!), some sugar and you get JAM. Christmas present jam! 

Busy day today...I have a full on Christmas factory set up in our apartment and I'm heading to the Brooklyn Flea to complete my xmas shopping! I am determined. I need the shopping to be over. By the end of last night I was walking around Target just grabbing anything for gift wrapping that said $1.00. Anything. I have no idea how I ended up with so much crap!

Now I'm deep into the making of edible Christmas gifts. Jam. Truffles. Cookies. Cakes. Jam. On and on....Oh! And liquor! I got some amazing bowls and bottles and jars at Marshalls for giving gifts, I'll post pictures soon.

Jam on toast

First step...

 Later...

Yum yum jars!

 For you!

Prosecco & Berry Jam

You'll Need...
1 1/2 pint Blackberries
1 pint raspberries
4 cups sugar
750ml Prosecco

Put the berries in a large pot and heat them until they begin releasing their juices. Add the Prosecco and sugar and boil. This will take a while, the Prosecco will bubble a lot and you need to wait until the bubbles die down. Pour (carefully!) into hot sterilized jars. Seal and let set in a dark cool place, then store in the refrigerator. Give away!


Friday, December 16, 2011

Happy Birthday Cake for Chloe!


I made a cake. We had a party. It was a surprise!

She was surprised.

Happy Birthday Chlodita Kernandez and congratulations on being a super yoga genius and finishing the course! 

What did we discover? Throwing a surprise party is stressful, but totally worth it. I also discovered that a cake doesn't look very pretty when it starts traveling from East Harlem to Brooklyn at 7am, and travels to three different locations before landing at the party at 10pm. It takes a beating. 

Then Chloe did this...

And this...

Totally worth it.

I made this cake as a part of my new resolution (I'm a bit early) to make a new and pretty cake every week. At least one. Maybe two if the opportunity arises...I'm determined to learn how to make pretty cakes. This recipe is from Joy The Baker.  Check out the original recipe HERE. Her's is a lot prettier. Obviously. I'll get there.

I made only one change to this recipe, using almond extract rather then vanilla, I'm obsessed with almond extract. The rosewater frosting is addictive. 

Cake with blueberries...

Covered it with berries...my frosting job wasn't as nice as Joy's so I went for the full coverage design...

A delicious slice, soaked with berries!

Throw surprise parties! The guest of honor will probably do this...



:-)

P.S. It's been super quiet here at the Tiniest Kitchen. There are two reasons for that..


1.
This beautiful show night-song I produced for Te Ilum.

2. My Christmas present from Chako! The newest addition to our household...

Beaker! The mutt puppy!








Thursday, December 1, 2011

Cinnamon-Sugar Rip Apart Bread




You ever just have a day when you feel like you want to do things?

Today, I had this sudden urge to be good. Bake something, spend no money, clean a lot, cook a nice dinner for the kids and their parents, shower (don't judge), make a nice pot of coffee in the middle of the day.

So I did those things. Cleaned, cooked, coffeed, BAKED! Sometimes, when I don't have time to bake for awhile and then I do it without being rushed, I am shocked by how soothing it is. Heaven. More baking.

This bread was the answer to a sweet craving. I used a recipe that was originally from Joy The Baker and was then re-blogged by Brown Eyed Baker, two of my all time favorite food blogs. Consider it an homage to these two awesome ladies...they made me salivate to the point where I immediately had to make the recipe.

This bread is soft, moist, sugary, cinnamoney (good words!), and FUN! Yea, I said fun. Again, don't judge. It's food you pull apart with your hands and eat...covered in sugar. And brown butter. So there. It's fun.

Originally, the recipe is called Cinnamon-Sugar PULL APART Bread, but Willa didn't like that, so she changed it to RIP APART Bread. I like it. Feels more active. RIP IT!

With Finn (aka Chimichanga) as my sous chef (mainly eating cheerios and drooling...), we were off!
















Eat warm. With coffee. Share with kids. They will rip it to pieces. Active eating.

FUN!

Cinnamon-Sugar Rip Apart Bread
Adapted from Joy The Baker & The Brown Eyed Baker


You'll Need...
For Dough
2 3/4 cups of flour, plus 2 tbsp on the side
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) of active dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
2 ounces salted butter
1/3 cup of milk
1/4 cup of water
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

For Filling
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of light brown sugar
3 tbsp cinnamon
2 ounces browned butter

Make dough! Mix together 2 cups of your flour, sugar, salt and yeast. In a separate small bowl, whisk the eggs. In a saucepan, heat the butter and milk together until the butter melts. Add the water and vanilla then remove from heat and allow to cool for about 2-3 minutes.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry stuff, mix with a spatula. Add the eggs. The dough is kind of tricky, keep mixing until everything is combined, it will be pretty sticky and get stuck on the spatula. Keep going, it's all good.

Mix in the remaining 3/4 cup of flour (you should still have 2 tbsp for later!) Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel and let rise for about an hour or until doubled in size.

While you have rising happening, make filling!

Mix together the sugars and cinnamon. Melt your butter in a small saucepan until it browns. Remove from heat. Easy!

Also, grease a loaf pan.

Once dough has risen, knead in the remaining 2 tbsp of flour and let sit covered by the towel for another 5 minutes. Roll out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough until its about 12x20-inches. Brush on your browned butter, then sprinkle on the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Use the entire mixture. I was afraid it was too much, it wasn't!

Cut the dough vertically into 6 long strips. Stack them on top of one another. Cut them into 6 stacks, so you'll have 6 stacks of 6 layers. Place them in the loaf pan (Brown Eyed Baker described it as "Like a flip book" this is a very helpful visual.)

Place the towel over the loaf and allow to rise another half hour. Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake your loaf for 30-35 minutes, until it is a nice golden brown. Remove from the oven, let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, run a knife around the edges and invert onto a serving plate.

That's a happy loaf!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

We're Back!!






















Our trip to PR was amazing. It was peaceful, relaxing and lovely (hilarious) times with my family. They absolutely adore Chako, so it's always fun to get them all together. We went to the beach or the pool every morning, had a huge Thanksgiving feast (PR style) with many of our cousins, Chako and I took a romantic day trip to Old San Juan, and we finished the trip with a beautiful dinner to celebrate my parents 25th wedding anniversary at our favorite restaurant in Isabela, Eclipse. I'm going to a follow up post on that meal because it OUTRAGEOUS, and I want to try a recreate some of the recipes. 

I am so grateful that Chako and I got to take this trip with my family. I needed some quality time and it meant the world to me for Chako to meet all of my cousins and family in PR. I am always so happy to be in my home there, can't wait to make it back soon!!

Thursday, November 24, 2011