Cute as a Mitten

Buttons are cute, but mittens are way cuter. I have had a mitten cookie cutter for a few years, however it wasn't the best shape. It was one of those cookie cutters that makes sense when you see it labeled in the basket with all the others, but once the cookie is baked people have no clue what it is (also filed under: the teapot cookies I made last year that stumped everyone). Recently I saw this Wilton cookie cutter with a much more defined thumb, and it had to be mine. I even waited in line at a Michael's on a Saturday in the middle of December to purchase it. That is patience.
So I made these adorable sugar cookies. I flipped half of them over before baking so that I could have pairs of mittens! I was running a little low on time the afternoon I made these, so I didn't split the icing and tint it multiple colors and pipe it on to make more defined cuffs and what not. I think the single color lets my sprinkles shine though. I am so hooked on the mitten cookie cutter that I have gingerbread mittens in my oven baking as I type this.
This morning I broke out my candy thermometer and made some other sweets, but I managed to misplace my camera (again). This has been one of those months where I can't keep track of most objects. I am really on-point as far as getting things done, but I have probably lost about 10 pens while crossing things off my to-do list.

Playing Catch Up

My yeast theme might be falling apart a little this month. I keep having really great intentions. There was a nice little list of all the things I wanted to make: sourdough loaves and cinnamon buns and a dessert version of a soft pretzel. I have been baking incessantly, just not many things with yeast. I did manage to make a batch of soft pretzels, but I have blogged about them before so I didn't think they warranted another post. I also made more rocky road fudge and a few pounds of peanut brittle. There have been tons of baked donuts and rice crispies. I made Hanukkah cookies last night and stuffed myself full of latkes too. At work I have been making tubs full of gingerbread men. That's right tubs. I can't even count the hundreds of cookies I have rolled out any longer. Things have been so busy. I can't remember the last night that I got a full eight hours of sleep, but hopefully it will happen soon. Until then I will caffeinate myself to a mostly functional state.

Chocolate Hazelnut Swirled Bread

Thick yeasty bread filled with a homemade chocolate and hazelnut spread? Count me in. When I saw this recipe on Maple Spice, I knew it was only a matter of time before it went into my oven. I enjoyed this bread for breakfast for a few mornings. Due to the minimal sugar in the bread and the lack of sugar in the nutella spread I made, it actually wasn't a sweet bread. It was just rich and complex and super filling. However, I am sure if you used a store bought chocolate hazelnut bread, it would be much sweeter. You could also add a bit more sugar to the bread dough if you are hoping to eat it as a dessert rather than a breakfast (but what really is the difference these days).
I very loosely followed the no-tella recipe in Veganomicon. I basically pureed hazelnuts with cocoa powder and a bit of vanilla extract and canola oil until it was smooth enough to spread on the dough. I am sure that if you actually used hazelnut or peanut oil and added the recommended sugar that it would be even more phenomenal. Also, I baked this bread in a bundt cake pan than already doesn't get enough use. I don't have an angel food cake pan, because vegan angel food cake is still sort of a mystical thing. I didn't have any problems with the bread sticking to all the indentations once the pan had been floured.


I was really excited to use those rose tea cups & plates. I have been having a ton of wonderful thrift luck lately. Last week I found, the tea cup & saucer and a bundle of saucers that all very loosely matched the tea cup for just a dollar. Recently I have also found all sorts of wonderful vintage napkins and bakeware that I can't justify spending twenty dollars on but have no problem grabbing for a dollar or two. I even found a few more vintage mason jars at a shop called Jinxed when I was in Philadelphia this weekend. I thrift pretty regularly but often forget to document my finds. Sometimes it's nice seeing how beautifully everything pairs together.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

A few sweets went undocumented throughout the month since they didn't pertain to chocolate. My favorite dessert, a fruit tart, complete with a thick shortbread crust, my top secret pastry cream recipe, and several of my favorite fruits. You also see an apple and pecan pie from the bakeshop. The apple pie is topped with a faux lattice crust, using one of these handy dandy lattice cutters. It doesn't work quite as well as you might originally think. Even after rolling it a few times with a heavy rolling pin, I had trouble picking out many of the little squares of crust. Sometimes even resorting to just cutting squares with a paring knife. It still took quite a bit less time than folding lattices over 80 pies. So I am thankful for that.


After getting a flat tire on a stressful Saturday morning, one of my coworkers fixed it for me. On my lunch break, he took my tire off, patched it, and got it back on with ample time left for me to eat. I returned the favor with a loaf of banana bread. I added a cup of crushed walnuts to the batter, and even more to the top of the loaf. I even took the time to run an oiled knife over the top of the batter so that the loaf had that perfect split down the middle. That's how you show someone you really wanted to put in effort.


Somehow it is already December. That means it's time for me to come up with another food theme to get me through these hectic holidays. I decided to go with all things yeast. My first thought was donuts. I haven't made many batches of baked yeast donuts that really won me over. This attempt was definitely not one of them. I left the dough to rise away over my warm little radiator. It rose the first time, but after I cut them, they didn't rise again. I baked them anyways and hope for the best. Unfortunately they just remained flat little doughy disks. Perhaps it is just time for a new jar of yeast or maybe the recipe was just a flop. But I am sure that I can come up with a successful batch before the end of 2012!

Malted Pretzel Brownies

I have a confession to make. I am someone who loves box mix brownies. I have never made a brownie from scratch that I thought compared to the box mix version. I like my brownies directly in the middle of fudgy and cakey. I am just hard to please. Because of this, I don't make brownies very often. I had seen a photograph a few months ago of brownies baked into cookie cutters to give as gifts and thought it was genius. I set out to make a batch of brownies to fill all my favorite cookie cutters with. As I started pouring the batter in, I realized it was all leaking out from the bottom of the cutters. Even though they were flat on the cookie sheet, there was nothing to hold the batter in and keep the cutter from starting to float a little. I tried taping parchment around the bottom but it still didn't really work. I got one successful cookie cutter brownie, but it wasn't even cute enough that I felt compelled to take a picture of it. Lesson learned: if you can only find one picture of something on the whole wide interweb, there is probably a good reason that no one else has recreated it.
So as I quickly realized that I didn't need a whole batch of brownie batter to fill the cookie cutters, I decided to bake the rest like normal and work off another idea. In comes the the white chocolate pretzel brownie from Vegan Treats. I had two of these in Philadelphia last month, and I haven't been able to get them out of my mind since. They were just their standard brownie topped with buttercream with the lightest hint of cocoa, ganache, and the chocolate covered pretzel. I had already fallen in love with the malted buttercream I made, and thought it would work well with a salty pretzel. I was definitely correct. Eating a whole square of these brownies was a feat, but I did accomplish it. The rest were slowly nibbled away at in bits and pieces over several days.

Turtle Tracks Fudge

I cannot believe how quickly time has been going by lately. It feels like November just started a few days ago, and yet I am already writing another rent check. It must be a good sign that things are moving smoothly. I have been feeling pretty confident in myself lately. I have been working on a few small crafty projects and making some larger plans that I am not quite ready to spill the beans about yet (how elusive of me). I am really looking forward to December too. While I really enjoy having time to just hangout and watch obscene amounts of the X-Files, I am going out of town at least twice in December. Eating at the best spots in other cities will always be one of my favorite things to do. Besides the obvious, which is making all the sweets.
I finally made the second flavor combination of fudge that I had intended on making when I made the rocky road batch. I planned the timing well because a few hours after cutting it, six friends came over for a few hours. While they all played Mario Kart the pile of fudge kept slowly diminishing. What I am saying is that this recipe makes a ton of fudge. So if you aren't planning on feeding the masses, then you probably want to split it in half. What I am also saying is that I don't get video games. I didn't grow up playing them, so maybe it is just a total disconnect. I actually tried to play Mario Kart for the first time a few weeks ago on the easiest level with my partner, and it just made me really panicky. Maybe it's a skill that is a lot easier to pick up on as a child. Or maybe I just archaic hand eye coordination?


Turtle Tracks Fudge
base veganized from Kraft's Fantasy Fudge

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup Earth Balance
2/3 cup full fat coconut milk
12 oz semisweet chocolate
1 ten oz container Ricemellow Creme
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 ounces vegan caramels, chopped into small pieces
additional pecans or caramel sauce for decoration

Line a 9x13" or 9" square pan with parchment (I used a larger pan this time because I wanted thinner pieces of fudge). In a heavy bottomed pot combine the sugar, Earth Balance, and coconut milk. Stir continuously over medium heat until it comes to a rolling boil. Allow to boil for 5 minutes. Stir in chocolate, vanilla, and Ricemellow creme. You will need to stir quickly. I highly recommend an electric mixer. Fold in pecans and caramel chunks, then pour into the pan. I reserved a few unchopped pecans and added additional caramel sauce to the top to add a little more visual appeal. Allow to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing into squares with a sharp knife. It's also best if you can find a knife without indentions on the side. You will get a much prettier cut.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

I made this pie for my partner's mother's birthday. I made her a cake last year, so I felt like switching it up this time around. I had made Greg's dad a cherry pie with a crumb topping for his birthday, so I thought it would be cute to make them corresponding birthday desserts. Not that anyone else would really notice something like that, but you can't blame me for overanalyzing sweets.
While I have made plenty of puddings before, I never have filled a pie with pudding. I have filled them with fruit and coconut cream, but never pudding. And that was just something I needed to correct. I searched around for a few recipes and realized that the chocolate pudding pie recipes from Vegan Pie in the Sky and Smitten Kitchen were nearly identical. That meant that it couldn't be a bad choice. I used the measurements from Smitten Kitchen, because I like breaking out my scale to weigh chocolate. I decided to make things even more special by using Valrhona chocolate & cocoa powder. Topped with fresh coconut whipped cream and more chocolate, you couldn't go wrong.


I kept delaying this little birthday pie, and it worked out pretty splendidly since today is my father's birthday too. My sister's birthday is later this week. So maybe this little shout out will reach them virtually since I can't be there in person. Just know that I would make you both pies or cakes or fresh baked loaves of bread. Whatever you wanted.
When you can't be home for the holidays you have a little more time to think about what family means and how grateful you are for it. Not just for the family that's celebrating birthdays a few hundred miles from your home, but the family that warmly welcomes you to their holidays even when you aren't blood. Thankful for the parent's best friends who call you to check up on you, and the people you come across in life who will someday call your hypothetical children (but more likely will watch your cats). And the friends that come back to town to catch up so quickly over just a single meal or cup of coffee, but you miss them as soon as they are gone again.


Do you have something you only make on special occasions? Normally for me it's waffles. You know you are loved if I have broken out my waffle iron at any point in time. I wake up hungry. So if I appreciate you enough to delay my breakfast for longer than ten minutes, you are in a great place.