Bees again? Seriously?

I've started a new food blog that I will update with the baking that I do in my spare time. It's still has it's training wheels on and will eventually see a face lift but for now it's up and going. I tried to post some cakes that I haven't had a chance to post on this blog. I also realized that I tend to type A LOT so I kept to a format that will hopefully keep my rambling to a minimum.

http://bakinginthebeehive.blogspot.com/

I leave and heave a sigh and say good bye

Hey all,

Obligations that require our attention and time have come up and we are no longer able to continue with The Bumbling Bee project. This has been a once in a lifetime learning experience and we are grateful for the opportunity. Thank you to everyone so very much for their support. I will always be a baker and will continue to make some super tasty stuff and work on refining my recipes. I plan on starting a food blog soon - I'll post the URL here when that takes place. Thank you all again, it's been fun.

tips and Tools Tuesday: Pastry Cream!

Ok, first things first, what the heck is this stuff? To simplify, pastry cream is the best tasting vanilla pudding you'll have. It's basically just a custard. Here's a fabulous recipe from Epicurious:

• 2 1/4 cups whole milk
• 6 large egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  

preparation

In medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup milk, egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch.

Transfer remaining 1 3/4 cups milk to heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add pod. Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup sugar over, letting sugar sink undisturbed to bottom. Set pan over moderate heat and bring to simmer without stirring.

Whisk hot milk mixture, then gradually whisk into egg yolk mixture. Return to saucepan over moderate heat and cook, whisking constantly, until pastry cream simmers and thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, discard vanilla pod, and whisk cream until smooth. Transfer to bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Chill until cold, about 4 hours. (Pastry cream can be made ahead and refrigerated, wrapped well with plastic wrap on surface, up to 3 days.)

I wouldn't change a thing except maybe use potato starch instead of corn starch. When heated a lot or overcooked the corn starch can give off a slightly metallic taste so I like to use potato starch just in case.

Ok, so now you have a fabulous bowl of pastry cream. What to do?

Puff pastry fresh fruit tarts or even just mini pies will pastry cream filling and fresh fruit on top

Eclairs/Cream Puffs

Filling of a cake

Parfait cups

Trifle cake

Don't forget to mess around with the flavoring! The last batch of pastry cream I made I added just a hint of almond extract and it blew my socks off.

Overload on cakes!

I've been doing some trial and error runs for cakes lately. I've been taking pictures of my success and quickly eating the evidence of the failures. Case and point; yesterday I turned out a very successful pumpkin spice cake but then had the failure of my first coffee flavored cake. I was attempting to use actual coffee beans and apparently they need to be ground to a fine dust - otherwise it's like eating tiny pieces of coffee flavored plastic bits .. gross!

Last weekend I made 2 cakes. A small lemon curd cake and an almond pear bundt cake. Both were tasty but I enjoyed the option of not eating lemon for once and had a hearty slice of the almond. The pears couldn't keep up with the almond flavoring so I guess my almond cake is best suited with berries.

Today over at Design*Sponge they posted a recipe for a mini boston cream pie (which is really a cake). Just looking at it I knew I could do a very tasty version and if it wasn't friday afternoon with no one to eat it over the weekend - you better believe I'd be in the kitchen. Pastry cream, vanilla cake and ganache. Doesn't get any better than that.

Tips and Tools Tuesday: Vanilla Beans

I've been baking for quite awhile but I always avoided using real vanilla beans because those little suckers are EXPENSIVE! I used to hate recipes that would call for expensive and exotic ingredients because the whole benefit of cooking and baking at home is to cut the cost down. I didn't like the idea of finding one particular ingredient for just one recipe so I either didn't use the recipe or found a reasonable substitute. Just about everywhere I looked for vanilla beans it was about $7-10 for 2 beans. In my mind they either need to be filled with liquid gold or vanilla extract would just have to be a good enough substitute.

When planning out my sisters wedding cake I decided that I need to splurge and buy vanilla beans for her vanilla raspberry cake layer. While compiling resources and doing extensive research I discovered that Costco has amazing prices on vanilla beans. I was nearly brought to tears as I read the sign. 10 beans for $12. You better believe that I stocked up and that the cashier thought I was absolutely nuts. The best part (aside from the price) about the Costco vanilla beans is that they come in glass tubes (5 in a tube). When you uncork them the smell is absolutely heavenly. They do have expiration dates on them but they can be frozen.

So, the question that is begging to be asked; is it worth it? In my humble opinion - for just a little over a dollar per bean, completely and absolutely 100% yes. I am still pretty stingy with the vanilla beans but always use them when the vanilla flavor is being showcased such as in pastry cream (vanilla custard) and in vanilla cakes. There is such a difference and I really don't think I'll make pastry cream again without using them. To make it even more valuable; vanilla beans can be used in 2 ways. The most common is to split the bean and scrape out the seeds and incorporate that into the recipe. But, if you save the emptied pod you can add it the milk you're going to use for the pastry cream and let it soak. I even take it a step further and leave the pod in while boiling the milk in preparation to make the pastry cream. People also put their emptied pods to their sugar supply to allow the flavor to be soaked into the sugar. Either way, the vanilla bean definitely performs double duty.

For the next tips and tools tuesday I'll post a recipe for pastry cream and provide some awesome ideas for how to use it.

Tips and Tools Tuesday: Prep bowl with lid

Pyrex has changed my life. I don't actually bake with any pyrex but I love LOVE LOVE my pyrex prep bowls. I bought a set at Walmart and for the life of me I can't find them online but here's a set so you can see the difference in size. I have the smallest size.

I love these so much because they're the perfect size for a prep bowl and for small storage. My favorite use of them is for separating eggs. I use two bowls, one for the whites and one for the yolks and whichever half I'm not using I just put a lid on it, label and throw it in the fridge for later use. I also have found them super useful for mixing small amounts of frosting that I wanted to color. For everyday use we love using prep bowls for snacks (pretzels, craisins) because the size limits our intake.

Since they're pyrex, they'll never break. They actually nest ok and they're microwave and dishwasher safe. The best part though? The lid is so snug that I could fill it with water and hold it upside down. It does make it a little bit more difficult to open but I'd rather have a tight lid than being able to open it with one finger. They're really affordable too. I got 4 bowls for under $9.

Tips and Tools Tuesday: Cookie Scoops

Today I present both a tip and a tool. I am so in love with using ice cream scoops for cookies that I don't even remember how I used to make cookies prior to owning a scoop. Sure, a spoon might work but it won't be consistent and you're going to get messy. With an ice cream scoop you can bet that your cookies will be identical and your fingers will stay clean.

I know there are TONS of various tools used to scoop cookies but I stand by LibertyWare's thumb dishers (I use the red size). Not a very exciting name, I know. I love these scoops because it honestly, not exaggerating, ejects the dough. A function that most cookie scoops struggle with. With a single flick of the thumb the dough pops out. When using it with stickier dough (gingersnaps..ugh) it can get gunked up overtime but a little hot water fixes that problem. There are similar scoops where you squeeze the handle together but I find those difficult to actually scoop with because cookie dough is pretty heavy. I also use the scoop as a visual cue as to the desired consistency of the dough. When the ball of the dough is slightly feathered when I drop it, it's perfect. Because of this visual cue I can add more flour if needed without having to bake any cookies off.

I have yet to break a LibertyWare thumb disher and with practice I can scoop at lightning speed. Technically, I don't know if they're dishwasher safe but I always throw mine in the utensil basket and have never had a problem. Locally, both Gygi and Standard sell these but I'm not which one has the best price. Or, they're all over the internet.

Ok, now the tip. To keep your hands clean and to get identical shape and weight of your cookies you scoop the dough and then bring it up along the side of the bowl. This way you can ensure that your scoop is full of dough and that the top is level. Here's a video that shows the technique.

PS-The scoop in the video is the same as the one I mentioned above. And I don't use the water trick unless it gets gunky because the water residue can change the appearance of the top of the cookie.