TWD: Chocolate Crunched Caramel Tart

I don't know if this was because of my running tally of TWD failures recently, or maybe I been a good girl... because the pastry angels have finally smiled upon me and generously granted me the perfection that is the Chocolate Crunched Caramel Tart. I think my honey enjoyed it too because he took a bite and contorted his face into the biggest grin possible.
Oh I made one smidge of a change.... please excuse me a moment whilst I go note it in the book, because it created utter bliss....
Ok I'm back, I used semisweet chips from TJ's and replaced 2 oz of said chips with Ghirardelli white chocolate chips.
Way to hit it out of the park with your pick Carla! You can get the recipe over at her site Chocolate Moosey.

TWD: Cottagecheese Pufflets

Ohhhh look at my fantastic pufflets! Errr ok so look at my fantastic pufflet dough then....

Its 7pm on Tuesday night and I just got to the part of the recipe that says chill for 3 hours. Hehe.. oh well I guess these wait til tomorrow.

If you've got a few hours of chillin' time to kill.... head over to Jacque's blog Daisy Lane Cakes for the recipe. Head over to Tuesdays with Dorie and check out completed pufflets in the blogroll. They are a beautiful pastry and I'm damn determined that they will come out good tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Update: After much fussing the fiddling I managed to get these baked up and man oh man were they awful. So much work for something so boring... maybe I'm getting sick and my taste buds are on the fritz or something but I never tasted something so tasteless.....

Vote for your favorite Cupcake!

Vote for your favorite cupcake over at the Cupcake Hero Banana Roundup!

Voting ends September 21st @ 11:59pm EST

Cupcake Hero: Bananas

After my third recipe attempt at banana cupcake bliss I finally came up with something I find slightly interesting (read:edible).

I give you..... Banana Espresso Cinnamon Cupcakes! Ok ok I know it sounds a little odd as I write this but its actually a pretty tasty combo. The bananas gave the cake a moist delicate interior and the espresso & cinnamon gave it a little kick.

Cupcakes (Makes 6 regular sized cupcakes)
1/2 c AP Flour
1/4 c Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/8 tsp Salt
2 tsp Espresso Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 Ripe Banana (mashed)
2 1/2 tbsp Unsalted Butter (melted)
1 Egg Yolk
3 tbsp Half & Half

Preheat oven to 350
Toss all the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. In another bowl combine wet ingredients and mix with a hand mixer until smooth. Combine the wet and the dry and fill lined baking cups 3/4 full. Bake until tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack and make the frosting.

Frosting (Makes enough to generously fill and frost 6 Cupcakes)
2 oz Unsalted Butter
4 oz Cream Cheese
1 c Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Espresso Powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Using a hand mixer, combine everything until velvety smooth. Top cooled cakes and serve.

You'll be able to see all the great banana lovin' creations at Cupcake Hero and find out how to become a hero yourself ;)

TWD: Apple Turnover

Check out the blog roll over at Tuesdays w/Dorie if you seek successful buttery pastry goodness cuz you wont be finding it here.

I came home from work (late) and had the crust for this weeks recipe all ready and waiting for me to turn out (or turnover) some delicious apple pastries. I mucked it all up, the crust was so crumbly it found its way quickly to the trash can! Boo!

Julie from Someone's in the Kitchen was the hostess with the mostess this week so you can find the recipe on her site.

Bake Along: Garlic Knots

Evil evil garlic knots! These were so darn yummy that the hubby and I had to forcibly stop eating them! Three each, and they aren't tiny either! Holy smokes we are pigs!
These were easy to make, especially because its pretty hot here so proofing the dough took absolutely no effort and very little patience. I ended up with 9 rolls at 3 oz of dough each. And since it was hot I cooked these on the BBQ... yeah no joke! Our BBQ keeps a pretty steady temp at 325-350 so I just popped them in there on a double baking sheet. First up high on the top rack then moved them down later to brown up the bottoms. I was really careful to pay attention to them though so they wouldn't burn but they came out lovely. Everyone of them golden and deliciously cooked to perfection. I will definitely make these again, but when there is more of a crowd present... cuz god knows we don't need to finish them off on our own.
Great pick Megan! You can grab the recipe here if you want to give it a try, worth every effort.

Update:
Jenn from This Little Piggys Life actually followed the knotting instructions that I was too lazy to go find! Hers came out so cute!
Megan rocked her Knots too over at My Baking Adventures

YWP: Strawberry White Nectarine Cheescake Popsicles

Jenn from Piccante Dolce choose a Vacation theme for September You Want Pies with That?.

We never truly take a "vacation" type vacation.... you know packing up the family and heading out to some fantastic local requires a bit of money and/or a bit of planning, both of which I am in short supply. So when I think of vacation, I simply think of summer which leads me to fresh summer fruits. And what better suits summer and fruits for that matter than popsicles?

I created a creamy cheesecake swirled with a puree of fresh strawberries and white nectarines. Froze them into popsicles and drenched them in white chocolate ganache. A perfect chilly treat for a hot summer "vacation".

Bake Along: Garlic Knots

The long weekend is the perfect time to make something that takes a bit more time in the baking department... something bready... something garlicy and something perfectly suited to go with a Labor Day BBQ!

Megan from My Baking Adventures sent over the following recipe for Garlic Knots, adapted from King Arthur Flour. But you can also find the recipe it was adapted from here.

For the Dough:
3 C Bread Flour
1/4 C Milk
1 tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Instant Yeast
1 1/4 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 C + 2 tbsp Lukewarm Water

For the Glaze:
2 to 4 Peeled & Crushed Garlic Cloves
2 tbsp Olive Oil or Garlic Oil

Directions
In a bowl of a stand mixer combine the dry ingredients together and add the oil & water. Using the paddle attachment or dough hook, mix and knead to form a smooth elastic dough adding additional water or flour as needed. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover it and allow it to rise for about 1 hour until doubled.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a rope about 10 inces long; tie each rope into a knot. Place the knots on lightly greased parchment lined baking sheet, cover and let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour until they are puffy looking.

Whisk together the garlic, oil and set aside.

Bake knots in a preheated 350F oven for 15/18 minutes, they should be set and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and brush or drizzle with oil. Serve warm.

If you bake along, let me or Megan know so we can see how yours came out. I'm thinking maybe a little parsley or Parmesan in mine ;)

TWD:Lime Cream Pie-Part Deux

I had to skip this weeks Espresso Cheesecake Brownies chosen by Melissa from Life in a Peanut Shell, for no other reason that they just sounded deadly. And since last week I had a haphazard post about the Lime Cream Pie, I thought maybe I should post an update, because that pie was gu--ouh--ood-a! (If your a Ron White fan just read that like he would and you know what I'm sayin')

One of my favorite restaurant desserts (there are very few believe it or not) is the Keylime Pie at CPK and this pie kicked its buttocks... By the time I brought any of it to work my honey and I had already eaten 1/2 the pie and could have easily polished it off and licked the pie pan. So thank you Linda from Tender Crumb my next CPK bill will be less now because of you, I know I can make it better at home!