Some weekends are perfect for french toast. I was sick all last week, and the cold was definitely presenting some major deterrents to venturing outside for more than the most important of errands, so some warm, comforting food seemed like it would do just the trick. I’d made french toast dozens of times before, but never with home-made bread, so I decided to try out the brioche recipe from my brand new baking bible and then use the bread to make french toast.
get all french like, over this way.
Hello, friends! I don’t know about you, but I had a very exciting holiday season, and I pretty much made out like a bandit. Among the host of awesome baking tools and cookbooks I received was a standing mixer from my favorite certain someone. It’s awesome and amazing, and also makes me fairly certain he has a huge crush on me. It’s grey and lovely and fits quite nicely into our increasingly fort-like apartment. Granted, it also takes up a surprisingly large percentage of our kitchen’s already hard-pressed food prep space market, but it’s still the coolest thing ever, and I’m certain it’s going to do lovely things for us.
lovely recipes and lovely stories, yonder
It’s been a time for serious baking, friends and neighbors. One of my (now former) work colleagues, Sarah, was leaving the law firm to move to the Bahamas and get married and stuff, and there was to be a party so we could all say our goodbyes. Dessert’s kinda become my thing around the office (what else would I do with all the leftovers?), so I asked Sarah if she would like me to make anything sweet to bring to the festivities. At first she mentioned black forest cake, which I’d never heard of and sounded exciting, but then she remembered that one of her good friends who would be in attendance that night has celiac disease. So instead, she requested some sort of flourless something. I’d made Tartine’s chocolate souffle cake on Memorial day, and it was fantastic, but I felt it would be fun to try something new and exciting.
caking, shuffling, and fancy parties, around the bend.
You’re in for a treat, folks, because this week, you will know the glory that is messy cookie cake.
What is it, you ask? I’ll tell you, but you have to realize that the end result is so much more amazing that you can imagine just by seeing the description: it’s basically a cake made out of chocolate chip cookie dough and a sweet cream cheese sauce. And it’s so much more than either cookie or cake could ever be. As a child, it was one of my favorite things in my mom’s arsenal of sweet treats, and as an adult, it’s the dessert I request every time I go home to visit. When warm, and eaten with a glass of ice-cold milk, this cake like sugary-chocolatey nirvana. It is a part of my childhood. Also, it’s freakin’ delicious. Are you ready?
Usually it’s a little difficult to bring oneself to do a lot of elaborate baking shenanigans in the summertime in New York, what with the humidity and the stickiness and the death by sweating and such. But seeing as how it’s basically been raining for two straight months (making us city dwellers feel like we’ve somehow been transported to the opposite coast), there’s been plenty of sleepy, cool baking weather to go around. All of which turned out to be quite convenient when I decided to bake a very elaborate and time consuming cake for Father’s Day (I realize this was two weeks ago; I’ve been busy… with stuff).
more stuff this-a-way.