by Aimee on October 22, 2010
So I was slaving away on brioche research the last week and I started writing up a post. Then I took a look at my pictures. Yes! I have a cache of pictures taken with my spanking new Nikon that look…meh. Especially the ones that I took of my “loaf” of brioche. I’m still trying to get the hang of this thing. I can’t get over how much better the pictures I took with my old G5 were. I know it’s just because I have no idea how to properly use a SLR, especially the lenses. They confuse me. ANYWAYS, I did make this tart, and the pics aren’t toooo bad. While I have a ton of historical tidbits to impart as well as some close up and personal pics of yeast, they’ll have to wait for a proper brioche post (which I hope to get to next week, along with a post on homemade crème fraîche *cough*). My family will have to suffer through loaf upon loaf of brioche attempts as well as other brioche-filled recipes. I’ve even got a pumpkin brioche version planned! Oh, the horror. And just in time for Halloween too. 
But as I said, in the meantime I’ve got this tart. The tart can be found in Baking With Julia
which is recipe kin to the Viennese Cream Brioche included in Nancy Silvertion’s Pastries From The La Brea Bakery
. You know, the same pastry that apparently brought Julia Child to tears with the first bite. What you will find in this tart is a billowy pillow of brioche cushioning a fluffy crème fraîche custard served with a “white secret sauce” which is like a saucy type of sabayon. If you really want to go all out (which I did this time) you can whip up a fruit garnish poached in a caramel wine mixture for a pretty presentation. [click to continue…]
by Aimee on October 10, 2010
Yes, I’m still…here. I’ve been a basket case for the last year, apologies all around. But I’m finally feeling like I’m coming out of it, at least a little. There were a couple of events that led to burying my proverbial head in the sand, but the big thing was…I dropped my camera. It is irrevocably broke. I’ve tried to pry the damn thing but the lens is all twisted inside. It was a Canon G5, which I bought many, many, MANY years ago. I’ve learned a lot about cameras in the time since, and went from taking really crappy photos to some that I would consider not too bad, using a point-and-shoot to boot. My Mom being the angel that she threw caution to the wind and helped me buy my first DSLR. I’ve been trying to sell off my possessions (like my car) so I can pay her back. So, I have been in learning mode. It’s strange how I took better pics with the G5 instead of my shiny new Nikon *squee* but again, I’m learning. [click to continue…]
by Aimee on December 17, 2009
Sorry for the delay! I’ve been out all day, got home, and crashed on my bed. The excitement of being able to annouce the winner in my first giveaway bolted me out of bed though. Without further ado, I’d like to congratulate Saveur from the taste space as our winner! Heartfelt thanks go out to everyone for entering and making this a great first giveaway.
by Aimee on December 15, 2009
This is just a quick reminder that there is only 5 hours left to enter the spice giveaway. I will announce the winner some time tomorrow night. Thanks go out to everyone who has taken the time to enter and good luck to you all!
by Aimee on December 6, 2009
So this last week has been a whirlwind. The tradition in my house is to put up the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving. What started out as a simple holiday tradition, turned into an all-out clean-fest of the garage which had been sorely neglected in the last year. A week later, we have a *moderately* clean garage and festive house covered in lights, at least on the inside. I’ve been all over creation looking for the right *priced* extension cords to aid in trimming the outside of the house in jolly luminosity only to find after purchasing my prized extension stakes that 1. they aren’t long enough and I don’t have a three prong extension cord to extend the extender and 2. there’s no switch, something lazy me wanted. So, like Scrooge, I’m in the dark…though only on the outside.
But that’s not why you’re here! You want mouth-watering recipes that celebrate those spices I mentioned earlier. Believe it or not, I’ve been planning this little theme for a while, and I had baked this wonderful Cinnamon Milk Tart some time ago. I found this recipe in Nancy Silverton’s Pastries From The La Brea Bakery
, which is a seriously good book despite it’s loathsome lack of bakers porn.
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by Aimee on November 22, 2009
I mentioned I was trying to think of ways to make my blog more interesting, and I thought, “Free goodies!” This morsel of brilliance came to me even before reading Predictably Irrational
, which speaks of our irrational tendencies to the “Free!”. Not that I’m expecting a sect of Sugared Ellipses worshipers to pop up or anything, but this is just another tool in my arsenal to slowly take over the world…ha, ha, ha, ha, ha *maniacal laugh* Seriously though, I thought it might add a little spice to our lives.
Since we’re speaking of spices I thought I might give away some. I was in need of some fresh cinnamon since according to Nancy Silverton, “Once you’ve tasted freshly ground cinnamon sticks, you’ll never settle for preground cinnamon from a supermarket jar.” In the desire to test Ms. Silverton’s claim I decided to place an order for the cinnamon, as well as a plethora of other fall spices, with the renowned Penzeys spice company. Somewhere along the way in composing my final order I thought what better way to celebrate the warmth of this season than to give away some spices to warm the heart and the belly. Without further ado I am including: [click to continue…]
by Aimee on November 19, 2009
I’ve changed my Permalinks. So to all of you (you sweet few) who linked to any individual posts on my blog, I’m humbly ask you to update your links for your readers. Um, weird. It looks like links have magically updated. At least on my Foodgawker and Tastespotting entries. Huzzah! I’ve been meaning to do it, but I just never got around to it until now. Thankfully I only need to do this once. :
Oh, and stay tuned for a fun announcement!
by Aimee on November 19, 2009
Thought I was gone forever? For awhile I did too. Anybody still listening? I understand if you’ve moved on to sweeter pastures, but I took some needed time to reflect on whether or not I was doing the best thing I could be doing right now with this blog. To be honest, I’m not sure. There are a ton of things that interest me, but unfortunately I haven’t exactly been feeling like the world is my oyster so-to-speak. I realize I’m not the only one who is experiencing difficulty in these economically agonizing times, but I have been dealing with this economically agonizing situation going on six years now. At the same time, I realize things could be worse. However, when you are obsessed about where your next dollar is going to come from, if any, you really start to reevaluate how you spend you time. After six months of thinking, well, I realize I still don’t have any answers (feel free to chuckle). [click to continue…]
by Aimee on June 11, 2009
For the last two weeks I’ve been trying to finish this post. I want to write this so I can move on to….well, I guess sweeter things (at least as much as I can “move on” under the circumstances). This is another one of my personal posts, so if you’re not interested skip til tomorrow (hopefully I’ll have something of use to all the dessert freaks out there then, despite it all I still bake, I have to assuage the grief somehow so why not with sweets).
My Aunt Barbara died May 29th, two weeks ago tomorrow, from cancer. That’s her holding me when I was a babe (good grief, I had fat arms even then!). The guy kissing my head is my Uncle Bob, who passed away March last year, from God knows what but probably some complication due to the medication he was on all his life for manic depression. Along with my Grandfather last September, that’s three family members in a little over a year. *big sigh*
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It’s Iron Cupcake time, and I actually made the deadline this month! This month’s theme was to come up with a savory cupcake. All I could think of was bagels. And what is more NY than a bagel that has a dream of becoming a cupcake. NY being the place where impossible dreams can come true. But I didn’t want a plain old bagel. I envisioned an parmesan cheese and olive spiked “cupcake” of delectable doughy goodness…but would it work?
Our May ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .
Voting will begin no later than Saturday, May 30 at 8 p.m. at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com and will be open through Friday, June 5 at 12 noon.
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