Happy Saturday!

Me So Thorny + Trophy Cupcakes = One happy kitchen

Yesterday, Thomas Kelli and I headed down to Seattle to pick up our lovely girl Rayne from Seatac. She was flying back from her last school trip (she's a senior, yay!) to Guatemala. I picked up these little gems during our trip. Trophy Cupcakes, or course. Kelli had never been there, and I'm pretty sure she enjoyed it. She looked at Thomas and said "If Mallory were a store, this is what she would look like." She's probably right. . . . And when we got home there was a package on my porch, a delivery from Scent of Scandal Candles. I first saw these candles down at Inside Out a swoon worthy store down in Snohomish. Anyone that knows me well knows I've always been a little candle obsessed. For the last couple years it's just been tapers and tealights. I much prefer candlelight over artificial lighting. Recently, I've discovered the joy of high quality scented soy candles. I'm not a big "scent" person, I don't often wear perfume (it gives me a headache) but a really good candle that smells like pear or honey is just so nice. Like so many things in life, it's all about quality of ingredients.

Anyway, I saw these candles down at Inside Out, but didn't purchase one, it's a treat to purchase a nice candle, so I don't do it too often. But I couldn't get them off my mind, so I checked their website, got a coupon for 20% off and ended ordering two. Each candle has a clever "dirty" little name. I got "Me So Thorny" which is pictured and smells like fresh cut roses, light. And "Bee-otch", honey, also light. Nothing overpowering. Since they're kind of funny but really nice, they'd make a fun little hostess or valentines gift. Check out their website for more info and scents. And if you're in Snohomish, you cannot miss Inside Out it's one of the best home stores in the northwest, truly!

Enjoy your Saturday and don't forget to stop and smell the roses. . . .

Channeling the Sun

Naked Cupcake, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

A few days ago my sweet mailman brought me tres cool cupcake stickers. He and his wife had visited Vancouver B.C. and stumbled across a cupcake store. Apparently he thought I'd like the labels on their boxes so much he requested a few to take home with him. I couldn't think of a better 'thank you' than a box of cupcakes.

I recently came across a recipe for coconut/apricot cake. And, since I recently re-discovered my love for apricots (and a jar of homemade preserves in the pantry), I was naturally excited to try this flavor combination. This recipe is adapted from Real Simple magazine December 2008, and I highly recommend it. It's a very simple, uber delicious recipe. The cake is light and moist. The apricot preserves impart the slightest tang and sweet. The original recipe was for a two layer cake, in between each layer they slathered apricot preserve. I didn't want to loose this effect, but I knew I didn't want to stuff the cupcakes either. So, as you can see above, I added a schmear below each dollop of frosting. The frosting itself can hardly be considered 'frosting' for 1 1/4 cup of whip cream (and a dab or sour cream) there's only 2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar, not very sweet at all. However, the sweet cake, sweet preserve and the addition of toasted sweet shredded coconut all but makes up for it. The cake is moist, preserves sticky, frosting like a cloud and the crunch of the toasted coconut creates a bite out of this world! It's a very textural cupcake, which for this cake is over half the pleasure. I've never quite experienced anything like it. It's really, truly, amazing. Just as I was hoping it would be. Surely, this will become a go-to recipe for me.

Posted below is the original 'cake' recipe. To make cupcakes; fill standard cupcake papers 3/4 full, baked for about 18 minutes at 350. Top warm cupcakes with about 1 teaspoon of apricot preserve, then frost and sprinkle with coconut. I think these would be particularly lovely for a wedding or baby shower. A cheery cupcake. . . cheery enough to bring out the sun!

Recipe: Apricot & Coconut Cake

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pans
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups apricot preserves
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Heat oven to 350° F. Toast the coconut on a baking sheet, tossing occasionally, until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and 3/4 cup of the preserves. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk, mixing just until incorporated.

Divide the batter between the pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and let cool completely on a rack.

Using an electric mixer, beat the heavy cream, sour cream, and confectioners' sugar to form stiff peaks. Sandwich the cakes with the remaining 1/2 cup of preserves. Frost with the cream mixture and press the coconut onto the sides.

Make-Ahead Tip: Make the cakes, wrap tightly, and store at room temperature for up to 2 days. Make the frosting and frost the cakes up to 4 hours before serving. Refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving.

Boxed & Labeled, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Apricot Coconut Cupcakes Macro, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Birds Eye Boxed Up, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Cooking Club : Color, Emotion, Ingredient

IMG_6300, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Goodness me, this post has taken an awful long time for me to even think about getting to. I've been a very busy, busy bee. I'm always startled by the amount of time and effort being a student takes. It takes me about 8 weeks to get used to a new schedule and classes, and then a few weeks later it's over, and I've got a little break before the next quarter, then the whole thing starts all over again. Outside of school, I've had a lot on my mind and on "my plate", so to speak. I feel like I've been doing a whole lot of soul searching the last 6 months. My life has seemed like a turbulent storm of change, lots of people coming and going, I'm not a huge fan of change, I may have already mentioned this. Yet, I feel ready for a bigger change. You know when they speed up images of traffic, and it looks like one large, fast moving, caterpillar of lights? Life has felt a bit like that. Nothing profound, just lots of busy movement. It's hard to explain, and as I've realized recently in my english comp class, I'm no poet. Not even sort of/kind of. I should just get on with the food then, shouldn't I?

I loved this dinner, I couldn't profess my love of this dinner enough. Not necessarily all of the dishes that were made and consumed, but definitely the concept. Let me explain. I'm Top Chef obsessed. As a teenager and very young 20-something I was sick for a lot of reality tv (except for dancing and singing, oh and bachelor type shows. . . gag me). As I've gotten a tiny bit older I've really lost interest in other peoples drama. But I adore Top Chef. It's amazing. . . mostly because it's just so easy to be inspired by and critique food. Last season the contestants had a challenge in which they were given a color, emotion and an ingredient. They had to create a dish that featured all three cohesively. I was dying to try this myself. And what a better venue to do so then with my fellow cooking groupies? So, after our Christmas dinner we sat down with four bowls. We brainstormed 10 colors, 10 ingredients, and 10 emotions, write them on tiny slips of paper and proceeded to draw them, one by one, from the bowls. We also had a bowl of courses/dishes (we randomly draw our dishes for our next dinner, after each dinner). Not only did I want to try this concept myself, but I really wanted to see how others interpreted it, how they might be inspired by it.

So this is how it broke down, er, what we all drew:

Alcoholic Drink: Pink Smart Turnip
Appetizer: Yellow Domineering Pepper
Amuse Bouche: Purple Amorous Citrus
Starter: Red Happy Pasta
Side: Orange Thoughtful Broccoli
Side: Green Ferocious Squash
Side: White Fiesty Cheese
Entree: Blue Whimsical Fish
Dessert: Gold Sexy Pistachio

And here is what was made (so you can compare to the list above):

Alcoholic Drink: Raspberry Mead (no turnips, we decided it was best they be added to his other dish)
Appetizer (shown above): Crostini with Fresh Mozzarella, Roasted Yellow Peppers and Reduced Balsamic
Amuse Bouche (pictured below): Mini Marinated Beets with Whipped Goat Cheese and Citrus Sauce
Starter: Cajun Pasta with Barbequed Shrimp (I made homemade red pepper pasta, but it molded, odd, so I used a backup)
Side: Broccoli in Orange Sauce
Side: Acorn Squash stuffed with Turnips and assorted veggies
Entree: Balsamic Blueberry Salmon
Dessert: Pistachio Pana Cotta with Raspberry Gelee and a Gold Dusted Rose Petal

For the beet and crostini recipe check out fellow cooking clubbers blog: www.rosesandlemonade.blogspot.com They were her dishes, and she's got an awesome post over at her blog that you can read. Both recipes were killer (in fact, the other night, Thomas and I had the crostini and a bottle of wine for dinner).

Beet Root., originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Cajun Prawn Pasta, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Caramelized Shallot & Havarti Twice Baked Potatoes, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Blueberry Balsamic Salmon , originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

The cutest beet on earth. Now in my tummy., originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Red, White & Peppermint

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

This recipe was adapted from the cookie featured in the back of Martha Stewart Living Magazine in the month of December (the regular mag, not any of the numerous special holiday rags she puts out). I have a thing for chocolate and peppermint, and an even bigger thing for cookies with any trace amount of chocolate. I've been snowed in for over a week now, I haven't been able to drive, I'm like a teenager without a license again, in order to get anywhere I've been relying on my mother, my friends with snow tires, the bus and my own two feet. I think I'd be more inclined to go out and about in general, if it weren't 23 degrees outside. That's preventative of my adventuring out into the world. So, instead, I've locked myself in the house and baked cookies. For nearly a week straight. Perhaps we'll be lucky enough this year to have white christmas, I hope it will stick around a few days longer.

These cookies were a big hit. Light, thin, and crunchy. Kind of like a little oreo. Instead of dipping them entirely in peppermint white chocolate like martha, I drizzled it on top. Also, she adds peppermint to her chocolate batter, I did not. The reason being; Thomas loathes the chocolate and peppermint duo. So in order for him to enjoy them, I made some cookies with peppermint in the white chocolate and some without. Those with peppermint received a light dusting of red sugar. Suffice to say, I think he actually snuck a few peppermint cookies, I couldn't have possibly eaten all of them on my own. They're not the easiest cookie, a lot of rolling, cutting, freezing, and repeating. Odd to me. But, give them a whirl, they're pretty good!

Recipe: Chocolate Peppermint Flowers


Ingredients:

Makes 6 dozen
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 ounces (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
8 large candy canes or 30 peppermint candies, crushed
2 pounds white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

1. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
2. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed for 1 minute.
3. Reduce speed to medium-low, and add egg, then yolk, beating well after each addition.
4. Beat in peppermint extract. Slowly add flour mixture, and beat until just incorporated.
5. Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days).
6. Roll out 1 disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness.
7. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut out circles, and place 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
8. Roll and cut scraps once. Freeze cookies until firm, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining disk.
9. Bake until cookies are dry to the touch, about 12 minutes. Transfer parchment, with cookies, to wire racks, and let cool. (Undecorated cookies will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.)

Drizzle with melted white chocolate.

Enjoy!

A Well Dressed Table

Holiday Tabletop, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

I've come to a realization. I don't just love cooking, or baking but I truly love the art of entertaining. I adore all the lovely ideas out there. From runners, to place settings, to mats, cards, lights, dishes, etc. For me it's not just about making good food, it's about creating an unforgettable atmosphere too. Especially when it comes to a special event, like a birthday, baby or bridal shower or holiday. Making a fabulous meal for someone is a wonderful way to show your love or adoration, but creating something just for them, or for an event, in my humble opinion, makes everyone feel warm, welcome and considered. Creating an unforgettable space sets the the tone for an evening. The lovelier the space, the happier the guests and the more memorable the event. Listen to me, go on and on like an excited child!

This is the "table" I created for our cooking clubs holiday dinner. And conveniently, since it's got an underlying christmas/jul/holiday theme I intend to keep it up through Christmas. I'll layout the table in steps below.

1. Bottom Layer: Classic Linen Tablecloth. I've seen this same pattern of linen tablecloth at restoration hardware/pottery barn/martha stewart collection. Many run between $45 and $75. I found this baby at target for $20 in the Fall.

2. Runner: First layer of the runner is a strand of red lights and a fun strand of red tinsel garland (Michaels has some neat red tinsel ball garland for 70% off). On top of that I laid 2 yards of red tulle ($1.29 at JoAnn Fabrics).

3. Placemats: I didn't want to spend $20+ on a set of red or christmas placemats. And then it hit me, an amazing epiphany, why not use wrapping paper? It's cheap, disposable, and comes in many different cool patterns and colors! Viola, $4 later I had enough paper for placemats and a gaggle of presents.

4. Candles: I purchased the red candles with glitter on the bottom for about $2.50 a piece at JoAnns. You can do it yourself though if you've got a few candles lying around by painting the bottoms with egg white or mod podge and rolling in glitter or sugar.

5. For above the table I made red and white poufs of different sizes. These are easy to make (and Martha Steward doesn't offer anything but pink or yellow, plus she charges $20 and all these were made for under $10). For a quick tutorial see my Inspired Wednesday : Be Entertaining post below.

The rest of the stuff on the table are a part of my collection. Rosanna kings road plates and number goblets, roost antler candle holders, antique tea cups (for serving soup, a fun alternative to bowls), vintage pitcher and glasses. Adding your own pieces will create a personal flair.

Holiday Table Closer, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Holiday Table Setting, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

God Jul!
Happy Entertaining!

I'm Certain of One Thing. . .

Are they russian or mexican?, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

No matter what you may call them though, both titles include the "cake" moniker. I'm a flip flopper. I call these cookies both mexican wedding cakes and russian tea cakes. Although, in all honesty, I'd have to disagree with the "cake" title. These cookies are definitely not cakes. They're light, crisp, little medallions. Maybe a few hundred years ago when cakes were inherently crisp and dry would these tasty treats passed as cakes, but not anymore. They are officially in the cookie category. I do admit though that mexican wedding cookie, or russian tea cookie is not as charming as cake.

This recipe is courtesy of Emril Lagasse. Delicious, a perfect russian/mexican, cookie/cake. A holiday crowd pleaser as well. In fact, the first thing Thomas said to me yesterday morning was "bring me cookies!". He's in love (a man who doesn't love sweets has become hooked on these nutty little cookies). They're too easy. No eggs, just butter, sugar, vanilla and a bit of flour. Easy and delicious?! This is a must make cookie for this holiday season.

Recipe: Russian/Mexican Wedding/Tea Cookies/Cakes

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar, plus more for rolling cookies
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

1. Cream butter in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the vanilla then gradually add the 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
3. Sift the flour, measure, then sift again with the salt.
4. Add gradually to the butter mixture. Add the pecans and mix well.
5. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
6. Flatten slightly using the bottom of a glass, then bake for 20 minutes, or until edges are very lightly browned.
7. Remove the cookies from the baking sheets and roll in powdered sugar while still hot.
8. Cool on wire racks and roll cookies again in powdered sugar before serving.

Once they are completely cooled, cookies may be stored in airtight containers for up to 1 week.

Yum! Enjoy!

Oooozing Evil Cake.

Oooozing Evil Cake., originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures of food at our cooking clubs holiday dinner. Sadly, I only have two to offer. It has nothing to do with the meal, because it was stunning (I did a lovely job of hosting if I do say so myself). There are two major reasons no pictures were captured; One, because I hate low-light photography. I don't like the way food looks under artificial (and in my homes case, low wattage) lights. The food always has a bit of a yellow tinge to it. I much prefer the daylight when taking photographs of delicious dishes. And two, I may have gone with the yellow pictures if I'd ended up taking a picture of the main dish I'd prepared. But, we were all so hungry by the time it came out of the oven they were devoured (or picked over) in quick order. To start the evening I offered pear and pomegranate martinis that featured freshly juiced fruits (thanks to Ashleys nifty difty juicer, I need to get myself one of those!), Absolut Pear vodka, and a jolly rancher candied rim. Needless to say, it was a mighty delicious cocktail. The other dish I was responsible for was the main. Whoever hosts the dinner makes the entree, mostly because imagining having to pack up and cart around a main dish for 6-8 people doesn't sound like a chore too many want to attempt. I made mini beef wellingtons with filet mignon. Each pocket was stuffed with sauteed shitake mushrooms, caramelized shallots, and french gorgonzola. It was delightfully delicious (and I don't eat or cook beef often).

We also had mashed potatoes, onion gravy, stuffed pears, roasted red pepper soup, homemade sun dried tomato and mozzarella bread, creamy (heavenly, delicious, mind blowing) brussel sprouts, and to finish it off we had homemade cider and a truly decadent (beyond belief, pictured below) chocolate peppermint cake. This cake not only had four or five layers of moist chocolate cake, it also features layers of chocolate ganache, peppermint pastry cream, and a homemade marshmallow peppermint frosting, all topped off with shaved chocolate and crushed canes. It was surely a meal to remember.

For the recipes pictured here (brussel sprouts and devilish cake) check out roses and lemonade a lovely little blog by fellow (fabulous) cooking clubber ms. rachelle. On her blog you can find both of the recipes and her feelings on both dishes and our evening.

Enjoy!



Heavenly Sprouts of Brussel

Brussels Sprouts From Heaven, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.