The Start of the Christmas Baking

I have been back from Thanksgiving in Mexico and have been busy preparing for Christmas. While my kids have been writing their Christmas list's, I have been busy making my own list...my Christmas dessert list. There will be brownies, cookies, marshmallows, truffles and bark to name a few. So let the baking begin.
My first Christmas dessert was a Mint Kissed Brownie. I used a delicious brownie recipe from Thomas Keller, then added my 2010 Holiday Favorite, Hershey's Mint Truffle Kisses. These brownies were ridiculously good, they tasted exactly like the Bouchon's I get at Thomas Kellers Bouchon Bakery, but minty. Here it is, the best brownie recipe EVER. 

Mint Kissed Brownies
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa
3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1 tablespoon pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 1/2 cups chocolate  (70% Lindt Excellence or Ghiradelli Bittersweet chips) chopped into pieces
1 package Hershey's Mint Truffle Kisses

Preheat oven to 350.
set aside 9-inch square silicone mold

Sift together 3/4 cup flour, 1 cup dutch processes cocoa, 1 tsp kosher salt and set aside.

Melt 1/2 the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Put the remaining butter in a medium bowl. Pour melted butter into the medium bowl with the rest of the butter. Stir until creamy, and few lumps.

In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix together 3 eggs and 1 3/4 cup sugar on medium for about 3 minutes, until thick and creamy. Mix in the vanilla. On low speed add about one-third of the dry ingredients, then add one-third of the butter, and continue alternating the remaining flour and butter. Add 1 1/2 cups chocolate and mix to combine. (I made my batter 3 days before, but it can be refrigerated up to 1 week)

Spread the batter evenly into silicone mold. (The batter will be very thick) Press Mint Hershey Kisses into batter and spread batter to cover.

Bake 40-45 minutes, until wood skewer poked into center comes out with only a few crumbs. Cool in pan.

Cut into small squares and dust with powdered sugar.

Don't worry about the the calories and fat in this recipe, it may seem high, but you will only need a morsel to curb your sweet tooth for the entire day. (That says something coming from me :)

Tropical Fench Toast

This weekend I decided to change up our traditional French Toast recipe, in order to get ready for the holiday's. What does Tropical French Toast have to do with the holiday's, you will see.
The recipe that I typically use is a very good recipe out of a cook book called Fast Food Fix, and it's based on Burger King French Toast Sticks. Tried-and-true as it is, I scrolled through my recipe box on allrecipes.com and found two recipes that looked promising, Fluffy French Toast and Haitian French Toast. I also tried to incorporate a French Toast my friend introduced me to at The Duck Club Restaurant in Bodega Bay, which has a Corn Flake crust. Using a little of each recipe I turned our typical French Toast into Island French Toast.

Tropical French Toast Recipe
Makes 1 loaf of Texas Toast

* Note - if you are not a fan of coconut just leave it out and the recipe is still yummy

1 package Texas Toast

3/4 Cup Orange Juice
1/3 Cup Milk
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
3 Eggs (I usually use Egg Beaters)
1 Tsp Coconut Extract

3/4 Cup Flour
3/4 Cup Powder Sugar
1 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
Dash Of Nutmeg
3/4 Cup Shredded Coconut

In a shallow dish mix together 3/4 cup orange juice, 1/3 cup milk, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 3 eggs, 1 tsp coconut extract. Set aside.
In another shallow dish mix together 3/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup powder sugar, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, dash of nutmeg, and 3/4 cup shredded coconut. Set aside.

Lightly butter a skillet over medium heat.
While skillet is heating lightly toast the bread in a toaster making sure not to brown
Dip the bread in the wet mixture quickly coating both sides
Dip the wet bread in the dry mixture pressing drown gently to assure even coating
Cook bread on each side until golden brown.

* Leftovers - Stack toast with a layer of waxed paper in between each layer and put in a freezer bag, storing in freezer until ready to use. When reheating, warm french toast in a toaster like you would with a frozen grocery store waffle.

Happy Holiday's

Trick Or Treat Brownies

There is always an abundance of candy after Halloween, whether it's the leftovers that weren't handed out or the pillow cases the kids filled up. So what do you do with all that candy in the house? Do you eat the leftovers yourself or maybe share it with your coworkers. Do you let you kids eat their candy until they are sick or let them constantly ask you "can I have candy...can I have candy?" This is what I do.
When my kids were little, we watched the classic It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown where I realized how the story of the Great Pumpkin could make Halloween better for me as a parent.  After a night of trick-or-treating, the kids sort through their candy for the pieces they want to keep and the pieces they are going to give to the Great Pumpkin keeping in mind the more they give the better the gift the Great Pumpkin leaves. It's a great idea for limiting the amount of candy the kids eat,  but now what does the Great Pumpkin do with the kids candy plus the leftovers? She make brownies. Trick or Treat Brownies. Using your favorite brownie recipe, (a mix will work too) you put a little more than 1/2 the batter in the pan, then a layer of assorted chocolate candies, and then cover with the remaining batter. Bake as directed in your recipe. DELICIOUS. Each brownie square hides yummy candy goodness. The Butterfingers and Kit Kats don't work as good, while Twix is one of the best. (Year round I make Candy Bar Brownies using only 1 type of candy.)

The brownie recipe I use comes from one of my favorite radio programs, Melinda Lee KNX 1070 in Los Angeles.http://www.melindalee.com/index.php?option=com_garyscookbook&Itemid=6&func=detail&id=1044 , of coarse I do tweak it a little bit.

Brownies:

2 sticks of butter
8oz semi-sweet chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour

• Butter a 13 X 9 baking pan (I use a 7 1/2 X 12)
• Preheat oven to 350
• Melt together 2 sticks of butter and 8oz semi-sweet chocolates, set aside
• In a large bowl whisk 4 eggs. Whisk in 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar and 2 tsp vanilla. Whisk in melted chocolate mixture.
• Gently fold in 1 cup of flour until combine
• Pour into prepared pan bake for 35-40 minutes

I have another variation I use for Christmas, I will post it next month :)

Dia de los Muertos Cupcakes And Bread

I have always been drawn to the holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). This year I made cupcakes inspired by the holiday, along with the traditional bread Pan de Muertos.

I searched everywhere for chocolate skull molds to use to replicate sugar skulls, but I couldn't find them anywhere. Luckily, while in Napa with a friend we stopped by my favorite chocolate shop, Woodhouse, and found the perfect chocolate skulls.(Well, almost perfect...they were around $8 each and tasted like horrible waxy grocery store chocolate.) I decorated the skulls with royal icing which turned out to be more difficult to do than I first thought. Once the skulls were decorated I made Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes by slightly adjusting my regular chocolate cupcake recipe. The cupcakes were delicious, with the perfect amount of spices not too subtle or too over powering. I did run into one problem though, there was a weird reaction with the cupcake liners. Every single liner peeled away from the cake which caused major issues with my presentation. I will be working on the issue of the cupcake liners the next time I make these, because there will definitely be a next time.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup prepared Abuelita refrigerated (Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup of oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash cayenne pepper

• Preheat oven to 350 and prepare cupcake tin.
• Stir together 1 cup of hot chocolate and 1 tsp vinegar in bowl of stand mixer, and let stand.

• In a separate bowl whisk 1 cup flour,  1/3 cup cocoa powder, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and dash of cayenne pepper. Set aside.

• Add to the bowl of hot chocolate 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup oil, and 2 tsp vanilla beat until foamy.
• Add dry ingredients to the wet in two batches until no longer lumpy.
• Pour into prepared muffin tin and bake 18-20 minutes.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting:

1 cup shortening
1 cup butter softened
8 cups/1 bag powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup heavy cream or milk

• In a bowl of a stand mixer cream shortening and butter
• Add powdered sugar and beat until well blended.
• On low speed add salt vanilla and cream.
• Turn to high and beat until fluffy.

Never having traditional Pan de Muertos, I don't know if this is an authentic recipe, but it was the best sounding recipe I found http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pan-de-Muertos-Mexican-Bread-of-the-Dead/Detail.aspx. I only slightly modified the recipe and it turned out pretty delicious, and gave my daughter an extra 50 points in Spanish :)


Pan de Muertos


1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons anise seed
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons orange zest

Glaze
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 tablespoons white sugar 

• Heat the 1/4 cup milk and the 1/4 cup butter together in a microwave safe bowl. Add 1/4 warm water, the mixture should be around 110 degrees. 
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1 cup of the flour, 1 1/4 tsp yeast, 1/2 salt, 1/2 tsp anise seed and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture then add the 2 eggs and 2 tsp orange zest and beat until well combined. Continue adding 1/2 cup of flour at a time until the dough is soft. 
• Using the dough hook,  knead dough for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. 
• Lightly grease the mixing bowl and dough, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. About 2 hours. Punch the dough down, cut off enough dough to make a few ropes and small ball to decorate the top of the bread. Place dough onto a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size. 
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 35 to 45 minutes. 
• During the last 10 minutes in the oven, start preparing the glaze.
• I a small sauce pan combine 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup orange juice, and 1 tbs orange zest. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes.
• Brush over warm bread and sprinkle with sugar.

The Fabulous Puerto Morelos Part 4

No shoes, no shirt, no problems / Blues what blues... hey I forgot em' / The sun and the sand and a drink in my hand with no bottom / and no shoes, no shirt, and no problems  - Kenny Chesney, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems

While I am glad we explored other parts of the Riviera Maya, my favorite place remained the town of Puerto Morelos. From Ceiba del Mar we had 3 different options of getting to town. Our first night, not being familiar with the area, we took a taxi. After dinner, just a short walk down the street, we found a taxi stand on the northwest corner of the central plaza, and one 80’s pop song later we were back at the front steps of our hotel. ($10 round trip, not including tip.)
The second way into town was an easy 20-30 minute walk down the beach. Along the way we saw a cute little beach bar shack, where we pulled up a seat, took off our shoes and enjoyed a few cold beers and a coke. A little further down the beach was something even better than a bar, walking among the groups of beach goers were vendors selling cotton candy, obviously making this one of my top 5 favorite beaches. ( I was so excited about the cotton candy I didn't get to take a good picture.)

My favorite way into town was definitely by bicycle. The Ceiba del Mar Hotel offered a variety of beach cruiser bicycles to borrow, including a tandem bike. While peddling down the quite streets, it was hard to believe that only a few kilometers away was the hustle and bustle of Cancun.

Once in town we had a ton of restaurant options, and since we were visiting during off season we had many of the restaurants to ourselves. That also meant they weren't keeping the restaurants fully stocked, so not to waste ingredients, and the menus were somewhat limited.(We were just happy to be there.) At Cantina Habanero we had great hamburgers and beer, Los Gauchos I practically inhaled a delicious pepperoni empanada and Ole Don Pepe we finally had Mexican food and were entertained by MTV on a big screen TV. (I will oddly associate Trey Songz “Bottoms Up” with Puerto Morelos now.) I wanted to go to Mama’s Bakery but it was always closed by the time we got there, so instead we had Coconut Ice Cream at Nestle, yum.

We didn't just eat while we were in town, of coarse I had to go shopping at the Hunab Ku market. The kids each picked out a souvenir and with such good prices and a little extra room in our suitcases I couldn’t help myself from loading up on all sorts of knickknacks and large beautiful hammock. (Bringing a hammock back through airport security was quite an adventure.)

We typically don’t go back to places when we go on vacation, just because there are so many places in the world to see, but I have to say this might be an exception. We had such a great time and absolutely fell in love not only with the natural beauty but also the friendliness. There may be a lot of pretty places in the world but it’s the people that really make a place wonderful. Puerto Morelos definitely won my heart.